Old Testament 
Studies 



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COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 



Old Testament Studies 



A CLASS BOOK 




p/e. BURROUGHS, D.D. 




PrJrP- 50 Cents, Cloth 
^^^' 35 Cents, Paper 



Sunday School Board 

Southern Baptist Convention 

Nashville, Tenn. 



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Copyrighted, 1915 

Sunday School Board 

Southern Baptist Convention 

Nashville, Tenn. 



MAR 17 1916 

■OCi,A428139 



INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT. 



These Old Testament Studies are designed as a 
guide for the study of the Old Testament. They will 
largely fail of their purpose if they are used apart 
from the Old Testament. Much so-called Bible study 
of our day is a study of books about the Bible rather 
than a study of the Bible itself. Dr. G. Campbell 
Morgan bears personal testimony in this connection : 
"It was out of a deep sense of perplexity that I turned 
from books about the Bible to the Bible itself. The 
result of my own experience has been a discovery of 
unity which to me is the final proof of Divinity. Be- 
ginning with the Old Testament and moving system- 
atically forward, I discovered that each book de- 
manded another, and that when Malachi had been 
reached, the whole collection demanded more. In other 
words, I found that step by step I had proceeded 
through history and through teaching, all of which 
pointed toward a Coming One. Then, turning to the 
New Testament, I found the answer to all the expecta- 
tion created in the reading of the Old." 

Whether this book is studied in class or used by 
the individual, it should be regarded merely as a sug- 
gestive guide and the Old Testament Scriptures should 
be used as the real text. In the Outlines, which pre- 
cede the chapters, full Scripture references are given, 
while briefer references are suggested "for reading 
and study." These Scripture readings may be assigned 
as lessons alternately with the chapters in the class 
book. 

These Studies are designed to convey a view of Old 
Testament history in its broad outlines. No effort has 
been made to write one more time the history which 

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has been written again and again. The history can 
never be written more clearly or more beautifully than 
it is written by inspired men in the Old Testament 
itself. Many events and characters, familiar to all 
Bible students, are passed with slight mention ; much 
that is interesting and important is passed in silence ; 
details are for the most part omitted ; the material is 
treated with one purpose — to convey a connected and 
continuous view of Old Testament history, as that 
history reveals God and his redemptive purpose. Such 
view of the whole sweep of the history, gained by a 
rapid survey, must contribute to further intelligent 
study of the various Old Testament books and to a 
proper appreciation and interpretation of the great 
characters and doctrines which these books present. 

The material herein presented has been used sub- 
stantially for some years in teaching Old Testament 
history in various states, in local classes, in educa- 
tional institutions, in training schools, and in siunmer 
assemblies. It is offered in this permanent form at 
the request of the Sunday School Board's Normal 
Course Committee with a view to its use in the Con- 
vention Normal Course. The author gratefully ac- 
knowledges the valuable help and suggestions of the 
members of this Committee, B. W. Spilman, L. P. 
Leavell, H. Beauchamp, J. T. Watts, H. L. Strickland, 
and J. E. Byrd. 

The dates given in these Studies are taken from 
"The Dated Events of the Old Testament," by Dr. Wil- 
lis Judson Beecher. The student will bear in mind that, 
until further research sheds more light, exact accuracy 
cannot be attained as regards Old Testament chro- 
nology. 

While these Studies have been prepared especially 
for class work, it is hoped that they may also prove 
helpful to the general Bible reader. 

P. E. B. 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

I. The World Before Abraham 9 

II. The Days of the Patriarchs : Abraham and 

Isaac 30 

III. The Days of the Patriarchs : Jacob and 

Joseph 48 

lY. Moses and the Departure from Egypt 68 

V. The Wilderness Wanderings 83 

VI. The Conquest of Canaan 95 

VII. The Judges 113 

VIII. The Rise of the Kingdom : Samuel and 

Saul 128 

IX. The Kingdom in Its Glory : The Reign of 

David 140 

X. The Decline and Division of the Kingdom : 

Solomon and Rehoboam 157 

XI. Israel, the Northern Kingdom 171 

XII. Judah, the Southern Kingdom : To the 

Fall of Samaria 186 

XIII. Judah Drifting to Ruin : From the Fall of 

Samaria to the Fall of Jerusalem 199 

XIV. The Captivity of Judah 210 

XV. The Restoration 223 

XVI. Old Testament History by Books: A Re- 
view 242 

Questions for Review and Examination. . . 247 

A Chart of Old Testament History 251 

A Different Old Testament Chronology 254 

Some Choice Old Testament References . . . 255 

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Directions for the Study of this Book. 



For those who wish to study the book as a part of 
the Convention Normal Course, the following direc- 
tions are given : 

1. Lesson Assignments. Ordinarily each chapter 
will constitute a suitable lesson assignment. Two or 
three lesson periods should be given at intervals to a 
review of the lessons previously covered. Thus classes 
meeting daily would complete the study of the book In 
about four weeks, while classes meeting once a week 
would require about four months. 

2. Examinations — 

(1) The teacher will conduct a written examination 
at the close of the study of the book. 

(2) The questions will be selected by the class 
teacher in accordance with instructions given on page 
247. 

(3) Members of the class will be asked to answer 
the questions at one sitting without the text-book or 
help of any kind. The teacher will ask that each one 
sign this pledge : "I have neither given nor received 
help during this examination." 

(4) The class teacher will examine the papers of the 
class, and, on blanks which will be furnished for the 
purpose, will send the names of those who make the 
required grade of 70 per cent to the Baptist Sunday 
School Board, 161 Eighth Avenue, North, Nashville, 
Tennessee. The proper seal will be sent to be attached 
to the diploma. 

(5) Individual students may pursue the study in 
their own way. When they are ready for the examina- 
tion, they will apply to the Sunday School Board for 
a list of questions with necessary instructions. The 
questions will be selected from the list given on pages 
247-250. 

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(T) 



OUTLINES FOR CHAPTER I. 



THE WORLD BEFORE ABRAHAM. 

Scripture Record — Genesis, chapters 1-11. 
Selections for Reading and Study — Genesis 1-4, 

6-9, 11). 
Time— From Creation to 2,000 B.C. 

Ttie Purpose of Bible History. 
The Creation (Genesis 1, 2). 
The Account of Creation. 

In Wonderful Agreement with Modern Science. 
The Sabbath. 
The Marriage Relation. 
The Garden of Eden. 
The Object of this Account. 
The Value of this Account. 

The Fall (Genesis 3). 
God's Prohibition. 
Satan's Temptation. 
Man's Fall. 
God's Promise. 
The Value of this Record. 

Cain and Abel (Genesis 4). 

The Offerings of Cain and Abel. 
Cain Murders Abel. 
Curse and Banishment. 
From Cain to Noah. 

The Flood (Genesis 6-9). 
Exceeding Sinfulness. 
Noah Finds Favor. 
The Race Destroyed. 
Noah's Descendants. 

The Confusion of Tongues (Genesis 11). 
The Tower of Babel. 
The City of Babylon. 

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CHAPTER I. 



IHE WORLD BEFORE ABRAHAM. 



The Purpose of Bible History. — Bible history 
traces the deahngs of God with men and brings 
us in gradual unfolding both revelation and re- 
demption. It tells of the revelation which God 
made concerning himself, and it sets forth the 
redemption which God, through his incarnate 
Son, wrought for the race. This history, as has 
been suggested, is "His-Storyf' it comes from 
God ; it tells of God ; it is designed to lead to God. 

Bible history differs from other history in its 
nature and purpose. Ordinarily, history deals 
with men and nations, recording their lives and 
their deeds, and measuring their service and their 
worth. This history is concerned with the affairs 
of men and nations only in so far as these may 
be used to serve the high purposes of divine reve- 
lation and teaching. This purpose explains why 
much attention is given to certain characters and 
events, while others of apparently equal im- 
portance are passed over in silence or with the 
briefest mention. We will have frequent occa- 
sion in these Studies to note this fact. Thou- 
sands of years are covered by the first eleven chap- 
ters of Genesis, while four books, Exodus, Levit- 

(9) 



10 ^^^ Testament Studies, 

icus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, are given to 
the record of the incidents and revelations of 
forty years. 

God is in all history and manifests himself in 
the lives of all men and in the affairs of all 
nations. But God manifested and revealed him- 
self in a peculiar sense in Hebrew history, and 
God's Spirit in a special way guided and inspired 
the records of Holy Scripture. Bible history is 
real history and is to be treated and studied as 
such. But Bible history is more than ordinary 
history, and if we would enter into its sacred 
meaning and message, we must needs approach 
it with full recognition of its august nature and 
its divine purpose. 

The Creation. • 

The Account of Creation. — In the first chapter 
of Genesis we have: (i) a general statement 
that God created all things, ''the heavens and the 
earth,'' Genesis i : i, 2; (2) a somewhat detailed 
account of this creative activity, setting forth suc- 
cessive stages in the creation, and indicating the 
developments of each of the six creative days. 
(Genesis i : 3-31.) These developments were as 
follows : 

First day. Light was created and divided from 
the darkness. 

Second day. ''God made the firmament, and 
divided the waters which were under the firma- 
ment from the waters which were above the 
firmament." 



The World Before Abraham. 



11 



Third day. The seas were separated from the 
land, and the lower order of vegetable growth 
came into being. 

Fourth day. The sun, moon, and stars were 
called out. 

Fifth day. Fish and fowls, the lower orders of 
animals were created. 




Sixth day. The higher order of animals came 
into being, and man was created. 

The heart of this wonderful account which sets 
before us the self-existent, creative God, and 
which solves the deepest of all mysteries, the 
origin of matter and of man, is set forth in three 
statements : 

'Tn the beginning God created the heavens and 
the earth.'' 



12 Old Testament Studies. 

''And God said, Let us make man in our own 
imiage, after our likeness/' 

''And God said, It is not good that the man 
should be alone ; I will make him an help meet 
for him." 

In Wonderful Agreement with Modern Science, 
— Certainly it was no thought of Moses to write 
for scientific purposes a treatise on the origin 
and structure of the world. Nothing could have 
been farther from his thinking than the giving 
of instruction to the rustic shepherd people for 
whom he wrote as regards the mystery and mar- 
vel of scientific problems. It is unscientific to 
forget the ends for which Moses wrote and the 
state of the people for whom he wrote. In sim- 
ple language, adapted to the plain people of his 
day and of all succeeding ages, Moses sets forth 
God's creative activity. So far from stumbling 
over any slight apparent discrepancies between 
this account and the verdict of modern science, 
we may well wonder that this ancient narrative 
follows so closely the order of development as we 
now read it in the strata of the earth's surface. 

The Sabbath. — When God had finished his cre- 
ative work, he rested on the seventh day. "And 
God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it ; be- 
cause that in it he had rested from all his work 
which God created and made." Thus the Sab- 
bath comes to us from paradise, a part of God's 
original thought for the race. It was not a 
burden or a restriction laid upon man, but a bless- 
ing bestowed upon him, designed to serve his 



The World Before Abraham. 13 

best physical and spiritual interests. A proper 
observance of the Sabbath involves (i) rest, (2) 
worship, (3) service; which means that on the 
Sabbath we should rest, we should worship, and 
we should in some way serve God and our fel- 
lows. 

Both by his own example and by direct com- 
mand, God decreed that man should work, and 
thus work was a part of God's original plan for 
the race. The happiness of paradise did not 
involve idleness ; Adam was to subdue the earth 
and have dominion over all living things. The 
rest required on the Sabbath implies and de- 
mands work. 

The Marriage Relation, — Out of the inspired 
record of creation, and from the Garden of 
Eden, comes the marriage relation. Dr. William 
Smith points out the following principles as grow- 
ing out of the record concerning the creation of 
man and w^oman: ''(i) The unity of man and 
wife as implied in her being formed out of man 
and as expressed in the words, 'one flesh'; (2) 
the indissolubleness of the marriage bond except 
on the strongest grounds; (3) monogamy, as the 
original law of marriage, resulting from there 
having been but one original couple, as is forci- 
bly expressed in the subsequent references to this 
passage by our Lord and St. Paul; (4) the so- 
cial equality of man and wife as implied in the 
terms ish and ishah, the one being the exact cor- 
relative of the other, as well as in the words 
'help meet for him'; (5) the subordination of the 



14 Old Testament Studies. 

wife to the husband, consequent upon her sub- 
sequent formation; and (6) the respective duties 
of man and wife as impHed in the words 'help 
meet for him'/' 

The Garden of Eden. — (i) Its Location. - It 
is impossible to determiine definitely the location 
of this garden which the Lord ''planted east- 
ward in Eden/' Clearly Eden is a general term 
describing a certain territory in which the gar- 
den was located. Of the four rivers named in 
connection with this land, two are supposed to 
be the Tigris and the Euphrates, though we are 
unable to determine concerning the other two. 
The region of the lower Euphrates in the vicinity 
of the Persian Gulf answers all the requirements 
of the Scripture description, and this was proba- 
bly the location of the Garden of Eden. 

(2) Its Happiness. "And the Lord God 
planted a garden eastward in Eden ; and there he 
put the man whom he had formed. And out 
of the ground made the Lord God to grow every 
tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for 
food" (Genesis 2: 8, 9). Everything essential 
to the happiness of the first pair was provided — 
fruits and flowers, beauty and every charm. In 
each other and in God they found blessed com- 
munion, while in the care of the garden they 
found wholesome occupation. 

The Object of This Account. — It prepares the 
way for all the history which follows. Moses is 
writing an introduction to the message of divine 
revelation and redemption, a message which cul- 



The World Before Abraham. 15 

minates in the coming of the incarnate Son of 
God to die for the race. He begins where in 
the nature of the case he must begin, with God, 
and in his opening word he shows how this world 
and man stand related to God. God created this 
world and called man into being. This fact 
sends its light down through sacred history, help- 
ing to explain God's attitude toward a sinful 
race, and making explicable that central fact of 
all history, the voluntary death of the Son of 
God as an expiation for sin. Link this word of 
Genesis i : i with the strong assertions of God's 
care for men ; link it with John 3 : 16 ; link it with 
the Cross ; immediately we have light on what 
would otherwise be insoluble mystery. We know 
why God should care for men ; we can even in a 
measure understand why he became incarnate 
and died for men — God had created man in his 
own likeness and image. 

The Value of This Account. — If we would be 
impressed with the value of these first two chap- 
ters of Genesis, let us imagine, if we can, that 
these chapters have been stricken out, and that 
our Bible begins with the story of the fall in the 
third chapter of Genesis. A list of some price- 
less things which we would thus lose will suffice : 
(i) that God created the heavens and the earth; 
(2) that God made man as a special and distinct 
creation; (3) that man was made in the image 
of God and after his likeness; (4) that God 
blessed the seventh day and hallowed it by ceas- 
ing from his creative labors; (5) that in mercy 



16 Old Testament Studies. 

to man's loneliness God made woman as a com- 
panion and help meet for man, and that man is 
to leave his father and his mother and cleave 
unto his wife; (6) that both man and woman 
were created without taint of sin. 

The Fall. 

If it is needful that the message of revelation 
and redemption shall be introduced by a state- 
ment of how the world and man came to be, it is 
equally needful that such record shall be pre- 
ceded by a satisfactory explanation of how sin 
came to be. Is sin an original part of God's cre- 
ative work? How did sin come? The third 
chapter of Genesis answers these questions. 

God's Prohibition, — Having placed the newly 
created pair in a beautiful garden marked by 
every pleasure, ''God commanded the man, say- 
ing, Of every tree of the garden thou mayst 
freely eat : but of the tree of the knowledge of 
good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it : for in the 
day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely 
die" (Genesis 2: 16, 17). 

This command was not imposed arbitrarily, 
merely to test man : it was given in mercy to 
warn him. The word, "in the day that thou eat- 
est thereof thou shalt surely die," is not a threat, 
it is not so much the denunciation of punish- 
ment; it is rather a statement of an inevitable 
fact graciously made to guard against harm and 
evil. If man was to be free, free to serve and 
worship God, he must also be free to refuse God 



The World Before Abraham. yj 

and commit sin. In order to be real, freedom 
of choice must equally embrace holiness and sin ; 
because God would make man capable of worship 
and obedience, he made him also capable of the 
choice of evil. He did not leave man alone in 
his innocence and ignorance, but mercifully in- 
structed him concerning evil. 

Satan's Temptation. — Over against God's 
word of command and warning, Satan places a 
false word of persuasion and temptation. Com- 
ing in the form of the serpent which ''was more 
subtle than any beast of the field," the Tempter 
makes insinuation to the woman concerning 
God's authority and his goodness : ''Yea, hath 
God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the 
garden?" In simplicity the woman recited the 
fact that God had given permission to eat all 
fruit except of the tree in the midst of the gar- 
den, concerning which he had said, "Ye shall not 
eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." 
Then the evil one declared that God's word was 
false, and he boldly asserted that God was m.oved 
not by desire for their welfare, but was envious 
of his creatures ; "Ye shall not surely die : for 
God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, 
then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as 
gods, knowing good and evil." 

Man's Fall. — The woman had pursued a course 
involving peril ; she had given audience to Satan ; 
she had paused to give ear to his evil sugges- 
tions. Now she took a step further in peril; 
she consented to linger and look upon that which 

2 



18 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

was forbidden. As she lingered and looked, 
''the woman saw that the tree was good for food, 
and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree 
to be desired to make one wise/' Fascinated 
by what she saw, and overlooking the fact that 
death lurked beneath, ''she took of the fruit 
thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her hus- 
band with her; and he did eat/' 

God's Promise, — The offspring of the woman 
should bruise the serpent's head. The result of 
this first sin was swift and terrible. True, "the 
eyes of them both were opened," but their eyes 
were opened to look upon their shame with such 
a consciousness of guilt that when they heard 
the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden 
in the cool of the day, Adam and his wife hid 
themselves from the presence of the Lord God 
amongst the trees of the garden. 

And now lest the guilty pair shall take also of 
the tree of life and eat, and live forever, God 
sends them forth from the Garden of Eden after 
having pronounced a curse upon the serpent, a 
curse upon the man, and a curse upon the woman. 
But as they go forth, God gives a promise to 
save them from despair and to lead them to look 
for a deliverer. This promise, which for thou- 
sands of years constituted a star of hope for the 
sinful race, was a part of the curse upon the ser- 
pent: "I will put enmity between thee and the 
woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it 
shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his 
heel" (Genesis 3 : 15). 



The World Before Abraham. X9 

This promise was essentially vague. The off- 
spring of the woman was to bruise the head of 
the serpent, though in the contest, as the Deliv- 
erer crushed him to death, the serpent should 
bruise his heel. 

The Value of This Record, — It shows the 
origin and nature of sin. The reason and neces- 
sity for this account of man and the origin of 
sin must be apparent. This account together 
with the record of creation in the twO' preceding 
chapters shows that sin was not a part of God's 
original creation, but that it came through the 
suggestion of an alien evil spirit, and by the free 
choice of man himself. The account also indi- 
cates that God used every precaution to warn 
and save man from this folly. As in the further 
progress of the Scripture narrative, we see the 
persistent efforts of God to save men from sin, 
efforts culminating at last in the death of the in- 
carnate Son of God, we may by this record of 
the fall be assured that God is not seeking to 
amend his own imperfect work or to retrieve mis- 
takes he had himself made in the original crea- 
tion of the race. 

This incident of the first human sin from which 
all sin has come, standing as it does in the open- 
ing chapters of Genesis, sends its light on down 
through the w^hole succeeding record of revela- 
tion and redemption. God in pity is ever after 
seeking to deliver man from the perils and death 
in w^hich he has, voluntarily and in wanton dis- 
obedience of God's gracious word of command, 



20 Old Testament Studies, 

involved himself. The promise v^hich God gave 
beckoned and comforted the race in its long pil- 
grimage, until at last it had glorious fulfillment 
when he that w^as born of a woman went out to 
Calvary and bruised the Serpent's head, though 
in the terrible conflict the Serpent bruised his 
heel and wounded him so that for three days he 
lay lifeless in the tomb. 

That our first parents should transmit to their 
offspring the nature which was fallen and marred 
by their own transgression, was inevitable. This 
lies in the original constitution of the race. If 
it seems hard that all the race for all time should 
be sinful because the first man sinned, we do well 
to remember that by this same law of headship, 
all the race for all time and for eternity may be 
saved from sin because the second Adam did not 
sin. ^'For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ 
shall all be made alive'' (i Corinthians 15 : 22). 

Cain and Abel. 

After the creation and fall, we have recorded 
in this great introductory section of the Bible 
three special incidents : the murder of Abel, the 
flood, and the confusion of tongues. These in- 
cidents, illustrating the persistent sinfulness of 
sin and emphasizing the hopelessness of the race 
apart from divine interposition, pave the way for 
the significant step recorded in the twelfth chap- 
ter of Genesis, when God in a sense turns from 
the race as a whole and begins to reveal and 



The World Before Ahraham. 21 

manifest himself in a peculiar way to Abraham 
and the nation which he founded. Through 
this race he will manifest himself to all races. 

The record of Cain and Abel may be briefly 
summed up in four words : offerings, murder, 
curse, banishment. 

The Offerings of Cain and Abel. — Concerning 
the origin of sacrifices, the Scriptures are silent; 
whether these arose from some unrecorded com- 
mand of God or grew out of the sense of sin- 
fulness and the desire to make some atonement 
for sin, we do not know. 

Both Cain and Abel brought offerings ; Cain, 
of the fruit of the ground, for he w^as a tiller of 
the soil ; Abel, of the firstlings of his flock, for he 
was a shepherd. For reasons which are not 
stated, but which are clearly connected with the 
spirit which prompted the sacrifice, God accepted 
the offering of Abel, but rejected the offering 
of Cain. "By faith Abel offered unto God a 
more excellent sacrifice than Cain'' (Hebrews 
11:4). 

Cain Murders Ah el. — ''Cain was very wroth, 
and his countenance fell.'' In vain the Lord 
admonished him. ''And Cain talked with Abel." 
Perhaps they quarreled with heated words, and 
Cain rose against his brother when they were 
alone together in the field, and slew him. This 
first murder, the more heinous because it was pre- 
meditated fratricide, and because it was without 
reasonable provocation, has laid hold on the 



22 Old Testament Studies. 

imagination of all succeeding ages, illustrating 
as it does the swift growth of the principle of 
sin which began in the garden as disobedience, 
and quickly developed into violence and blood- 
shed. 

Curse and Banishment. — To show for all time 
his abhorrence of the crime of murder and the 
certainty that sin cannot go unpunished, God 
denounces a curse upon the very ground which, 
as a protest against the crime of Cain, shall not 
any more yield for him her strength. ''A fugi- 
tive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth.'' 
Lest the presence of Cain prove a menace and a 
demoralizing influence, and as a further expres- 
sion of divine disapproval, God drives Cain forth 
from the community which had begun to grow. 

From Cain to Noah. — Between the above 
event, in which Cain slew his brother, and the 
flood, record of which begins in the sixth chap- 
ter of Genesis, there is a lapse of many hundreds, 
perhaps many thousands, of years. Inasmuch 
as it is not the purpose of the Scriptures merely to 
record history, but rather to trace the revelation 
of God, long years are frequently passed over in 
silence. Of this period we know but little save 
that the race wonderfully increased both in num- 
bers and in wickedness. After the death of Abel, 
Seth was born to Adam and Eve. Following in 
the steps of ''righteous Abel,'' he became the pro- 
genitor of a godly race, while Cain, driven out 
by Jehovah, went forth to found a race in which 
violence and lust prevailed. 



The World Before Abraham. 23 

This long period is illumined by the record of 
one man who looms distinct on the horizon: 
"and Enoch walked with God : and he was not ; 
for God took him'' (Genesis 5 : 24). 

The Flood. 

Exceeding Sinfulness. — "And God saw that 
the wickedness of man was great in the earth, 
and that every imagination of the thoughts of 
his heart was only evil continually. And it re- 
pented the Lord that he had made man on the 
earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the 
Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have cre- 
ated from the face of the earth; both man, and 
beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of 
the air; for it repenteth me that I have made 
them'' (Genesis 6: 5-7). 

It is scarcely possible to see how stronger lan- 
guage could have been used to describe the deep 
wickedness which prevailed upon the earth. The 
statement of God's repentance and regret for the 
making of man is what is called anthropo- 
morphism, the ascribing to God of language which 
would under similar circumstances befit men. 
We are not to suppose that God changed in any 
sense, since he is eternal and unchangeable. 

Noah Finds Favor. — Noah, a just man and 
perfect in his generations, found grace in the 
eyes of the Lord. God announced his purpose to 
destroy the earth because of prevailing corrup- 
tion and violence, and commanded Noah to^ build 
an ark, giving him full instructions as to the ma- 



24 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

terials and dimensions. The word of God, ''yet 
his days shall be an hundred and twenty years/' 
is sometimes taken to mean that, as a penalty for 
sin, the length of human life was to be shortened 
to one hundred and twenty years. It is rather 
to be construed as indicating a respite ; after the 
announcement of coming destruction, wicked 
men should have one hundred and twenty years 
before the impending doom shall fall. 

The Race Destroyed. — When Noah, in obedi- 
ence to God's command, had built the ark and 
had gathered of all living creatures, the word 
of the Lord bade him come into the ark with all 
his house, his wife and three sons — Shem, Ham 
and Japheth — with their wives. ''And it came to 
pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood 
were upon the earth.'' Dr. William Smith well 
says, "The narrative is vivid and forcible, though 
entirely wanting in that sort of description which, 
in a modern historian, would have occupied the 
largest space. We see nothing of the death- 
struggle; we hear not the cry of despair; we are 
not called upon to witness the frantic agony of 
husband and wife, of parent and child, as they 
fled in terror before the rising waters." 

It is well to read the sublimely awful story as 
the inspired writer has described it and let it 
make its own impression on our minds. Many 
unimportant details may be passed over and 
profitless questions may be left unasked. It is 
needless, for instance, to raise the question as to 
the extent of the flood, whether it was universal 



The World Before Altraham. 25 

in the sense that it actually encircled and cov- 
ered the whole earth. It was certainly universal 
in that it extended to every part of the earth oc- 
cupied by the human race. 

Noah's Descendants. — When Noah came forth 
from the ark, he built an altar and worshiped 
God. ''And God blessed Noah and his sons and 
said imto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and re- 
plenish the earth.'' The descendants of Japheth 
spread abroad, reaching to the shores of the Medi- 
terranean and into Asia Minor ; the race of Shem 
filled southwestern Asia, particularly the Arabian 
peninsula ; the descendants of Hajn found a home 
chiefly in Africa. 

The Confusion of Tongues. 

The Tower of Babel. — While the new race 
which descended from Noah rapidly increased in 
numbers and apparently in civilization, wicked- 
ness seems also to have grown rapidly. A com- 
pany of people moved eastward and settled in 
the alluvial valley of the Euphrates. Here they 
thought to establish an empire, build a central 
city which should be their capital; and, despite 
the explicit promise of God that the earth should 
no more be destroyed by flood, they assayed to 
build a tower ''which should reach to heaven.'' 
This program involved disobedience in that God 
had commanded the race to scatter abroad and 
replenish the earth ; it involved also unbelief in 
that they distrusted the word of God which de- 
clared that there should be no more a flood to 



26 Old Testament Studies. 

destroy the race. This ambitious project was 
possible because the people were of one language. 
As a simple means of defeating their plans, God 
came down and confounded their language; ''So 
the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon 
the face of all the earth ; and they left off to build 
the city'' (Genesis ii : 8). 

The City of Babylon. — The city which the 
people thus began to found was called Babel, be- 
cause Jehovah did there confound the language 
of all the earth; it figures in later history under 
the well-known Greek name of Babylon. 

From the long period of thousands of years 
which came before Abraham and the beginning 
of the Hebrew race, the inspired writer has re- 
corded for us in this introductory section of the 
Bible five incidents : 

(i) Creation, to show how the universe and 
man came to be, and to set forth God's relation 
to the newly created world and race. 

(2) The Fall, to show how sin began to be, 
and thus to set forth the origin of sin as coming 
by man's voluntary choice; the nature of sin as 
being a willful elevation of self against God; 
and the divine displeasure, as shown in the curse 
pronounced upon the sinners. 

(3) The Murder of Abel, as illustrating the 
natural growth and violence of sin. In the gar- 
den, in its beginnings, disobedience; outside of 
the garden, in its full development, murder. 



The World Before Ahraham. 27 

(4) The Flood, which shows how, when the 
race had utterly failed, God spared the best man 
living, and in him and his sons gave the race a 
new probation. 

(5) The Confusion of Tongues, in which is 
set forth the folly and failure of the race which 
descended from righteous Noah. 

These incidents, especially the repeated fail- 
ure of the race when tried under the most favor- 
able conditions, prepare us for the history which 
begins with the twelfth chapter of Genesis, in 
which God in a sense turns to one man, Abraham, 
and selects one people sprung from that man, to 
whom he reveals himself and through whom he 
offers redemption to all peoples. In our next 
chapter we enter upon that history. 



28 Old Testa/rnent Studies. 

QUESTIONS. 

What is the purpose of Bible history? 

Give an account of creation. 

What of the agreement of the Mosaic account of 
creation with modern science? 

What was the object of this account of creation? 

What is the value of this account? 

Tell of the origin of the Sabbath. How is the Sab- 
bath to be observed? 

Name some principles suggested as growing out of 
the record of the creation of man and woman. 

Describe the Garden of Eden: (1) Its location, 
(2) its happiness. 

Why did God forbid the fruit of the tree of knowledge? 
How were the first pair tempted to sin? 
Explain the stepsi by which Eve was led to disobey. 
What promise was given to the guilty couple, and 

how was this promise fulfilled? 
What is the value of this record of the fall? 

Give the essential features in the story of the first 
murder. 

Give the essential features in the story of the flood. 

What led to the confusion of tongues? 

Indicate briefly why each of the five leading incidents 
of this period is recorded. 

Certify to the reading of "Selections for Reading and 
Study." 



OUTLINES FOR CHAPTER II. 



THE DAYS OF THE TATIIIARCHS : 
ABRAHAM AND ISAAC. 

Scripture Record — Genesis, chapters 12-27. 
Selection for Reading and Study — Genesis 12-27. 
Time — Abraham and Isaac, 2000 to 1724 B.C. 



Abraham and His Wanderings (Genesis 12-25). 

World Conditions in Abraham's Day. 

The Call of Abram. 

Abram's Faith Fails. 

Abram and Lot. 

Abram and the Promised Son. 

Abraham's Faith Tested. 

Abraham a World Character. 

Isaac the Son of Promise (Genesis 25, 26). 

Isaac and Rebecca. 
Birth of Esau and Jacob. 
The Covenant Blessing. 
Esau Sells the Birthright. 



(29) 



CHAPTER 11. 



THE DAYS OF THE PATRIARCHS : 
ABRAHAM AND ISAAC. 



Abraham and His Wanderings. 

World Conditions in Abrahams Day, — (i) 
There was a well-advanced civilization. The 
inhabitants of the Euphrates Valley and the peo- 
ple who settled in Canaan and Egypt were kins- 
people, being alike descendants of Shem. In all 
of these countries, especially in the valleys of 
the Nile and Euphrates, there was in Abraham's 
day a well-developed civilization, with stable 
government and a cultivation of the arts and 
sciences. Writing was practiced and communi- 
cations for commercial and governmental pur- 
poses were carried on between widely separated 
sections. Thus vvdien Abraham left his home in 
Ur of the Chaldees, he left a high degree of civ- 
ilization, with great cities and extensive com- 
merce; when he came into Egypt, he found a 
government many centuries old and a civiliza- 
tion which had long before produced those mar- 
vels of architecture, the pyramids. The fact 
that in Haran, in Canaan, and in Egypt, Abra- 
ham found friendly peoples, with whom he could 
easilv communicate and among whom he readily 
(30) 



Days of Patriarchs: Alu^aham and Isaac. 31 

established trade relations, is sufficient proof that 
these peoples were of the same racial family. 

In the ruins of Susa has been discovered the 
celebrated code of Hammurabi, a king contem- 
porary with Abraham, who ruled in Bab3'lon 
about 2000 B.C. In this code are two hundred 
and eighty laws for the government of the peo- 
ple. Measured by the standards of our own 
day, these laws seem somewhat harsh, but they 
indicate a sense of justice and attest the advance- 
ment attained in that time. 

(2) Idolatry was widespread. The records 
which come to us from Abraham's time demon- 
strate that both on the Euphrates and on the Nile 
idolatry was deeply rooted. ^'The religion of 
Canaan differed from the religion of Babylon 
as the primitive vv^orship of people who live 
among the hills differs naturally from the wor- 
ship of those who live on wide plains. The 
province of Babylon was ruled by one mighty 
king, who was the overlord of all the lesser 
kings, and this condition appeared in religion, 
where one great god was over all the lesser gods. 
The province of Canaan was governed by several 
hundred kings, each in his own city and on his 
own hill, and the religion of Canaan accordingly 
included several hundred gods, each having his 
own shrine in his own grove, on his own height. 
But each of these gods was called Baal, w^hich 
means 'lord.''' (Hodges.) 

The Call of Ahram. — In the midst of the idol- 
atry of his native Chaldea, Jehovah appeared to 



32 



Old Testament Studies. 



Abram (later changed to Abraham) and called 
him to come to a land of God's choosing to be- 
come the father of a mighty nation. The in- 
spired record thus relates this incident, which is 
full of interest and significance : ''Now the Lord 
had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, 
and from thy kindred, and from thy father's 




house, unto a land that I will shew thee : and I 
will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless 
thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt 
be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless 
thee, and curse him that curseth thee : and in 
thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." 

Abram lived in a day of migrations. In the 
rich plains of the Euphrates, the people multi- 



Days of Patriarchs: Abraham and Isaac. 33 

plied and congested. Strong, restless men led 
out bands in every direction in quest of unoccu- 
pied lands. Some were moved by lust for con- 
quest, some by the lure of gold. But this man 
Abram, apparently already possessed of wealth 
and clearly having no ambition for conquest, left 
his home and went forth not knowing whither 
he was going. His God had somehow made it 
plain to him that he would have him go forth 
from his kindred and from his father's house, 
and had promised to bless him and, what doubt- 
less especially appealed, to make him a blessing. 
Just how God made these revelations to Abram, 
whether he spoke to him audibly face "'to face, 
whether in visions and dreams, or in some other 
unexplained way made clear his will to the soul 
of his servant, we may not know. 

Abram was not disobedient to the heavenly 
call, but went with God on the long journey. He 
paused for a time in Haran on the upper Eu- 
phrates. Here his father Terah died, and from 
thence, in obedience to a renewed call, he moved 
on toward the land which God would give to 
him and his descendants. Traveling with Sarai 
his wife and Lot his nephew, and with his flocks 
and herds, the patriarch came into Canaan and 
pitched his tent in Shechem. Beautifully situ- 
ated between Mounts Ebal and Gerizim at the 
head of a fertile valley, Shechem was, even in 
Abram's day, an ancient city. Abram had come 
at last to the land of which God had spoken to 
him in Ur of the Chaldees. "And the Lord ap- 



34 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

peared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will 
I give this land : and there builded he an altar 
unto the Lord who appeared unto him'' (Genesis 
12:7). 

The passing of Abram through the various 
lands probably made little impression upon the 
people with whom he came in contact; a digni- 
fied chief, a sheik surrounded by his followers 
and acompanied by his herds, there was little evi- 
dence that he was especially different from other 
chiefs who came and went. But Abram came 
at the call of God and went according to God's 
bidding; and God purposed to bless this lonely 
chieftain and to make him a blessing to all suc- 
ceeding generations. 

Abram' s Faith Fails. — Journeying southward, 
Abram pitched his tent on the pasture lands be- 
tween Bethel and Ai. Here, as in Shechem, he 
built an altar and called on the name of the 
Lord; thus everywhere he went he bore witness 
to the eternal God. But a famine arose in the 
land; the earth became parched and the water 
sources dried up. Abram was sorely pressed; 
Egypt, well favored and fertile, was only a short 
distance away, and toward Egypt the patriarch 
turned his face. If he had stood his ground 
and waited upon God for deliverance, there 
would doubtless have been another chapter just 
here telling how God wonderfully delivered his 
servant. As the caravan entered Egypt, Abram, 
fearing for his life, induced Sarai to declare that 
she was his sister. This weak bit of deception 



Days of Patriarchs: Abraham and Isaac. 35 

brought Sarai into peril, from which she was 
mercifully delivered by divine interposition. 
For this falsehood, a folly especially detested by 
the Egyptians, Abram was sternly reproved by 
Pharaoh, who had unwittingly taken a man's 
wife into his palace. 

Abram and Lot. — As if to confess his mistake 
in going down into Egypt, Abram on his de- 
parture from Egypt made straight for Bethel, 
^'unto the place of the altar which he had made 
there at the first." He came out of Egypt with 
a sad blemish upon his good name, but "very 
rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.'' His nephew, 
Lot, had accompanied him in all his journeyings, 
not as his employee or his partner, for '^Lot also, 
which went with Abram, had flocks and herds 
and tents." 

The close association of two mighty shepherds 
with their vast flocks and herds produced rivalry 
among the rude herdmen. Naturally they con- 
tended for the best pasture and fought for the 
springs of water. Such unseemly contentions 
must have grieved the soul of Abram, more espe- 
cially as they would bring his God into disre- 
pute in the eyes of the heathen, in the midst of 
whom they dwelt. Abram, with marked gener- 
osity, called Lot to the summit of a neighboring 
hill, and bade him survey the land and make his 
own choice. "Let there be no strife, I pray 
thee, between me and thee, and between my herd- 
men and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. Is 
not the whole land before thee? Separate thy- 



36 ^^^ Testament Studies, 

self, I pray thee, from me : if thou wilt take the 
left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou 
wilt depart to the right hand, then I will go to 
the left'' (Genesis 13: 8, 9). One would think 
that surely Lot will meet such a noble spirit with 
like generosity, but Lot lacks the faith and the 
spirit of Abram ; ''and Lot lifted up his eyes, 
and beheld all the plain of the Jordan, that it was 
well watered everywhere. . . . Then Lot 
chose him all the plain of the Jordan." And 
though wickedness prevailed exceedingly in 
Sodom, Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain and 
pitched his tent toward Sodom. 

Left alone on the quiet hills, Abram was again 
visited and reassured by Jehovah, who declared 
that Abram's seed shall be as the dust of the 
earth, ''so that if a man can number the dust of 
the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered." 
Abram drifted south to Hebron, while Lot went 
to live in Sodom. Word reached Abram through 
a man who had escaped the general capture, that 
Chedorlaomer and allied kings from Mesopota- 
mia had defeated the kings of Sodom and Go- 
morrah and had taken captive their people, with 
Lot also. With characteristic energy, Abram 
assembled three hundred and eighteen trained 
servants of his household, and, joined by certain 
confederate chieftains, hastened in pursuit of the 
retreating kings. Finding them careless from 
recent victory and resting in supposed safety, 
Abram fell upon them in a sudden night attack, 
utterly routing them. Recovering Lot and the 



Days of Patriarchs: Abraham and Isaac, ^f 

other captives with their goods, he restored them 
to their homes. 

A few years later Abram again rescued Lot, 
this time from the doom denounced upon the 
cities of the plains. When God would visit de- 
struction upon Sodom and Gomorrah, he an- 
nounced his purpose to Abram, who at once 
fell to praying for the deliverance of the wicked 
cities. Out on the plains of Mamre, the aged 
patriarch urged his plea until he received assur- 
ance that if ten righteous men could be found 
in Sodom, the city should be spared. But so 
great and so general was the wickedness of the 
city, not even ten righteous men could be found, 
and the threatened doom fell on the cities of the 
plains ; not however until in accordance with the 
spirit of Abram's prayer. Lot had been led forth 
from Sodom. 

Abram and the Promised Son. — We enter now 
upon new and different scenes in the life of 
Abram. Henceforth, we are concerned with the 
fulfillment of God's promise concerning the seed 
in whom all nations should be blessed. As the 
years passed, Sarai remained childless, and, los- 
ing hope that the promise might be fulfilled in 
her own offspring, in accordance with the cus- 
tom of those days she persuaded Abram to take 
Hagar, her Egyptian maid, as his handmaid in 
order that through her the long-deferred promise 
might be fulfilled. This failure to wait upon 
the divine will and this violation of the original 
law of marriage brought its natural and inevita- 



38 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

ble results. Proud by reason of the high station 
to which she was elevated as the secondary wife 
of the patriarch, Hagar in a moment of tempta- 
tion mocked her mistress, and in anger Sarai 
thrust her out and she wandered away in the 
wilderness which bordered Egypt. Bidden of 
God to return and submit to her mistress, she 
was told that the son to whom she was to give 
birth should be called Ishmael, and that from 
him should spring a hardy race. But this son 
was not to be the son of the promise. 

Thirteen years passed, and with each succeed- 
ing year Abram's difficulties increased. At 
length God appeared again to renew the promise, 
this time confirming the covenant by significant 
changes in the names of Abram and Sarai. 
Abram (high father) is to be henceforth Abra- 
ham (father of a multitude), while Sarai is to be 
henceforth Sarah (princess). 

At this time also as a further seal of the promr 
ise and as a perpetual pledge that this race was to 
be holy unto himself, God gave the sign of cir- 
cumcision, which was to be binding upon every 
member of the Hebrew commonwealth, even the 
servant and the stranger. 

At length when Abraham was more than one 
hundred years old, and when in the face of nat- 
ural impossibility hope might have ceased to 
hope, Sarah gave birth to the long-promised son, 
and in accordance with the joy of her own heart 
and in obedience to the divine command, she 
named him Isaac (laughter). On the occasion 



Days of Patriarchs: Abraham and Isaac. 39 

of the feast given in honor of his weaning, Ish- 
mael in some way offered insult to Isaac. This 
aroused Sarah's old-time enmity toward Hagar 
and her child, and in response to her demand 
Abraham reluctantly sent forth from his camp the 
handmaid and her son. Divinely delivered from 
famishing, Ishmael went away into the wilder- 
ness of Paran, and became the father of the wild 
Arab tribes, which afterwards filled that region. 

Abraham's Faith Tested. — As we have com- 
panied with Abraham in his journeyings from 
Chaldea to Canaan and up and down in Canaan, 
we have been able to note the advancing and 
enlarging revelation of Jehovah ; with increasing 
intimacy the patriarch walked with God, and 
with ever greater boldness talked face to face 
with the Holy One. We come now to that 
event in the life of Abraham for which all the 
preceding years have been a preparation, that 
manifestation of faith which richly entitles him 
to be called the 'Tather of the Faithful'' and "the 
Friend of God." 

"And it came to pass after these things, that 
God did tempt Abraham.'' "These things," re- 
ferred to, are the varied trials and experiences 
through which he had been led. It is not God's 
way to bring upon us supreme tests until we have 
been thoroughly prepared. God did tempt Abra- 
ham, not with a view to seek out and reveal 
weakness, but to develop and illustrate for all time 
the integrity and strength of his faith. God ap- 
peared to Abraham in Beersheba and commanded 



40 Old Testament Studies, 

him to take Isaac, the child of promise, three 
days' journey to Mount Moriah and there offer 
him for a burnt oft'ering, ''And he said, Take now 
thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even 
Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah ; and 
offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of 
the mountains which I will tell thee of (Genesis 
22: 2). It is difficult, perhaps impossible, to think 
ouselves into the position of Abraham and to real- 
ize how sharp was this test. Knowing as we do 
the later provision by which Isaac was spared, 
we must find it all but impossible to enter into 
the difficulties which Abraham faced. Through 
forty years and more, God had been promising, 
and Abraham had been awaiting, the birth of this 
child. Enwrapped with all of Abraham's hopes 
and with all of God's purposes and promises was 
this son, this ''only son Isaac." To offer this 
child would destroy the last human means for 
the fulfillment of God's covenant promises. With 
a faith which had already delighted the heart of 
Jehovah, the patriarch took Isaac the three days' 
journey to Mount Moriah, built there an altar, 
bound Isaac his son, "and Abraham stretched 
forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his 
son." It is enough; Abraham has shown under 
the severest possible test that he believes and 
will obey Jehovah. An angel of the Lord calls 
to him to spare his son, and directs to a ram in a 
near-by thicket, which he is commanded to offer 
in sacrifice instead of his son. 



bays of Patriarchs: Airaham and Isaac, 41 

After this event nothing of great consequence 
IS recorded in the Hfe of the patriarch. He lived 
to be a hundred and seventy-five years old, con- 
tinuing until Jacob and Esau were fifteen years 
of age. 

Abraham a World Character. — Abraham holds 
a unique place in history. Among the millions 
of his day, he alone engages the attention and 
the interest of the millions of our day. 

In three distinct realms he is held in highest 
veneration; the Christian world looks back to 
him as the father of the faithful; the Jewish 
world gives him a preeminent place as founder 
of the Hebrew race; the Mohammedan world, 
numbering 200,000,000, regards him with no less 
esteem and affection than do Jews and Christians. 

And yet Abraham possessed not the elements 
or accompaniments which usually go to make 
m.en live in the admiration of their fellows. He 
wielded no military power, he built no empire, 
he created no work of art, nor left any piece of 
literature. Even as a religious character, he 
wrought no miracle ; he wrote no word of Scrip- 
ture; he lived out his days apparently without 
making any special impression upon the people 
about him. Abraham has lived, and richly de- 
serves to live, in the hearts of millions of God- 
fearing m^en and women because in days when 
the nations had wandered from God and gone 
into the darkness of death, Abraham realized the 
personality and spirituality and holiness of God, 
dared to put his life, his fortunes, and his destiny 



42 Old Testament Studies, 

into the hands of God, walked with God through 
Hfe's long journey, and, as the Friend of God, 
talked with Jehovah face to face. 

Isaac the Son of Promise. 

Isaac and Rebekah. — The face of Abraham in 
the inspired record gradually fades away, while 
Isaac comes out with increasing distinctness. 
Sarah is dead and the patriarchal home is bereft. 
Abraham will in a measure fill the vacancy and 
insure the choice of a suitable help meet for his 
son, who was now of mature years, by sending 
Eliezer, his aged servant, back to Haran to bring 
from, among his kinspeople a wife for Isaac. 
Rebekah is chosen, and doubtless having in mind 
the covenant promises of Jehovah, she readily 
consents to return with Eliezer. When the cara- 
van arrives in Canaan, Isaac is ''meditating in 
the field at eventide,^^ a phrase which seems to 
indicate a prayerful and worshipful mood. 

Birth of Esau and Jacob. — For twenty years 
this union remained childless until in response 
to Isaac's entreaty, God gave twin sons, Esau 
and Jacob. As the one born first, Esau would 
have been expected to inherit the family birth- 
right and thus to become the heir of the prom- 
ise. But before their birth Jehovah had given 
clear indication that the natural order would be 
reversed and that the elder would serve the 
younger. 

Esau was a man of the chase, a daring hunter, 
while Jacob was a mild-mannered man who pre- 



Days of Patriarchs: Abraham and Isaac. 43 

ferred the quiet of the home. While Esau grew 
to be his father's favorite, Jacob came to be the 
favorite of Rebekah. 

The Covenant Blessing. — We come now upon 
the one commanding event in the quiet and com- 
paratively uneventful life of Isaac. As heir of 
the promises made to his father Abraham, as the 
man in whom these promises were to be fulfilled 
and through whom these blessings were to be 
transmitted to later generations, Isaac holds a 
place of distinct and commanding interest. 
When the infirmities of age began to press upon 
him and he had reason to feel that the end might 
be approaching, he felt constrained to settle 
finally the question of his successor and to deter- 
mine as between his sons, Esau and Jacob, which 
should inherit the covenant blessings and trans- 
mit them to his offspring. 

As the elder, Esau would naturally be entitled 
to these birthright blessings which would ordi- 
narily involve the headship of the clan with a 
special portion of the family possessions, and 
which in this case involved the heirship of eter- 
nal promises and spiritual blessings. Before the 
birth of Esau and Jacob, God had clearly indi- 
cated the choice of Jacob over Esau. Many 
things had transpired to confirm this pre-natal 
prophecy, not least among which was the char- 
acter of Esau himself, who had grown up a sen- 
sual and selfish man. Any doubt which might 
have lingered in this matter should have been re- 
moved by his barter of this very birthright to his 



44 Old Testament Studies* 

brother Jacob, and by his recent marriage 
against the will of his parents to heathen women. 

Esau Sells the Birthright. — The sale of his 
birthright to Jacob, as shedding light upon the 
character of both Esau and Jacob, and as having 
a bearing upon Isaac's bestowal of the patri- 
archal blessing, demands special notice. Esau, 
a cunning hunter, had been out all day and had 
met with scant success in the chase. He was 
ravenously hungry, and coming among the tents 
of his father's household he smelled the odor 
of red pottage of lentiles being cooked by Jacob. 
Naturally impulsive, and now driven by hunger, 
he demanded that his brother should give him 
a portion of the pottage. Jacob, who had long 
coveted the birthright blessing which belonged 
to his brother, felt that now at last his opportu- 
nity had come, and, taking advantage of Esau's 
ravenous hunger, he offered him his pottage in 
exchange for his birthright. The offer was im- 
mediately accepted, and Jacob had Esau sware 
that the birthright should be his. 

It is difficult to say whether Esau or Jacob is 
more blameworthy in this transaction; Esau de- 
spised his birthright, thought lightly of the won- 
derful spiritual blessings involved in it, while 
Jacob, in shrewd and unbrotherly fashion, bar- 
gained for this high spiritual boon, as if Esau 
had a right to sell it or he a right to buy it. It 
is in Jacob's favor that he did prize the birth- 
right privilege which was despised by his brother ; 



Days of Patriarchs: Atraham and Isaac. 45 

there were within Jacob spiritual aspirations and 

possibilities which Esau lacked. 

Isaac Blesses Jacob. — In spite of clear indica- 
tions that the divine choice had fallen upon 
Jacob, Isaac, influenced by his partiality for 
Esau, determined to bestow the blessing upon his 
favorite son. Rebekah, influenced by her love 
for Jacob and encouraged by the indications that 
he was the favored of Jehovah, resolved to de- 
feat the purpose of Isaac and secure the coveted 
prize for Jacob. Isaac, who was now one hun- 
dred and thirty-seven years old, infirm and prac- 
tically blind, sent Esau to the field to bring veni- 
son, promising on his return to bestow the bless- 
ing. Rebekah, overhearing this promise and 
resolute in her determination to carry out her 
own wish, induced Jacob to personate his brother 
Esau, putting the skin of a kid over his neck and 
hands and feigning his brother's voice. The 
aged Isaac had his suspicions aroused and only 
reluctantly bestowed the coveted blessings. 
Scarcely had Jacob left the presence of his 
father, when Esau came in from the chase to 
find that his brother had already received the 
blessing. 

The four characters in this incident stand in 
sad light. Isaac and Esau, for personal and self- 
ish reasons, would thwart the clearly revealed 
will of God in the matter of the heir to the cove- 
nant blessing; Rebekah and Jacob have not the 
faith to await God's time, and they unbelievingly 



46 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

and impatiently hasten to prevent the setting 
aside of the divine plan. 

While it seemed proper to relate these devel- 
opments in connection with the life of Isaac, 
they shed much light on the after career of Jacob, 
which we are to study in the next chapter. 



QUESTIONS. 

What of world conditions in Abraham's day as re- 
gards : (1) Civilization, (2) idolatry? 

Describe the call of Abram : (1) How? (2) 
Whence? (3) Whither? (4) What promise? 

Tell of the failure of Abraham's faith. 

Give an account of the separation between Abram 
and Lot, tracing on the map the after move- 
ments of each. 

Tell (1) of the birth of Ishmael, (2) of the change 
in the names of Abram and Sarai, (3) of the 
birth of Isaac. 

Relate the incident which sets forth the testing of 
Abraham's faith. 

Why do we call Abraham a world character? How 
did he attain this eminence? 

Tell of the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah. 
Tell of the birth of Esau and Jacob. 
What in this case was involved in the birthright 
blessing? 

What light does the sale of the birthright shed on 
the character of Esau? Of Jacob? 

Under what conditions did Isaac bestow the bless- 
ing on Jacob? 

Certify to the reading of "Selections for Reading and 
Study." 

Name the chief events in Bible history to the close of 
this chapter. 



OUTLINES FOR CHAPTER III. 



THE DAYS OF THE PATRIARCHS : 
JACOB AND JOSEPH. 

Scripture Record — Genesis, chapters 27-50. 
Selections for Reading and Study — Genesis 28-35, 

37, 3^-50. 
Time— Jacob and Joseph, 1844 to 1643 B.C. 



Jacob and His Twelve Sons (Genesis 27-36). 

Jacob's Flight from Home. 

Jacob at Bethel. 

In Padan-aram. 

Back toward Canaan. 

Jacob Meets Esau. 

Jacob the Last of the Patriarchs. 

Joseph the Deliyeeee of His People (Genesis 37-50). 

Sold into Egypt. 
Exalted to High Position. 
Delivers from Famine. 
Brings Israel into Egypt. 
A Character of Rare Charm. 

Israel in Egypt (Genesis 46-50; Exodus 1). 

Blessed. 
Oppressed. 
Multiplied. 
Civilized. 

Why this Long Period in Egypt? 

Fulfillment of Prophecy. 
Egyptian Caste and Prejudice. 
Perils in Canaan. 
Contact with a Great Civilization. 



The Book of Genesis. 



(47) 



CHAPTER III. 



THE DAYS OF THE PATRIARCHS : 
JACOB AND JOSEPH. 



As in the last chapter, so in this, we study 
father and son. The inspired writer paints for 
us four memorable portraits, and we do well to 
linger and familiarize ourselves with these four 
wonderful characters. Among them there is 
the greatest possible variety, as there are also 
many developments which warn us that we are 
not to regard these patriarchs as perfect or sin- 
less men. Nevertheless as they loom on the 
horizon they are monuments of what divine grace 
can do in human lives. 

Jacob and His Twelve Sons. 

In our study of Isaac's career we had some 
glimpses into the character of Isaac's crafty and 
designing son. Jacob appears in no fair light as 
we see him bargaining with his brother for the 
birthright and taking advantage of his brother's 
hunger. He appears, if possible, at a greater 
disadvantage when he feigns to be Esau, and de- 
ceiving his blind and aged father secures the 
covenant blessing. Chastened by suffering, puri- 
fied by communion with God, this Jacob whose 
(48) 



Days of Patriarchs : Jacob and Joseph. 



49 



early career is marred by craft and deceit be- 
comes Israel, a Prince with God. A chief value 
of the life of Jacob lies in the view thus given 
of wonderful transformation under the pressure 
of trial and through fellowship with Jehovah. 




Jacob's Flight From Home. — The artful strat- 
egem of Rebekah was successful, and Jacob took 
by deceit the birthright blessing. At first Esau 
was filled with grief for his loss. Later he gave 
way to bitter anger and resentment against his 



50 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

brother. He resolved to slay Jacob, but in order 
to spare his aged father, he would defer his 
vengeance till after the death of Isaac. Rebekah 
was not slow to perceive the peril in which her 
favorite stood, and on pretext of wanting that 
Jacob should have a wife of his own kindred, 
rather than of the heathen people of the land, 
she persuaded Isaac to send him back to secure 
a wife in Padan-aram, or Haran, where some 
branches of the family seem to have lingered 
after Abraham crossed the Euphrates on his way 
to Canaan. 

Jacob at Bethel. — Jacob hastened northward 
through the hill coimtry which afterwards be- 
longed to the tribe of Judah, traveling some 
forty miles the first day, and at nightfall reached 
Bethel, sacred as the shrine of his grandfather 
Abraham. Here amid hallowed memories, heart- 
sore and weary, the exile from home took a stone 
for a pillow and laid himself down to rest. While 
he slept he dreamed, and his dream doubtless 
reflected his state of mind that first night away 
from home. A ladder, or better a stair, reached 
up from his feet into the heavens; on this stair 
angels were ascending and descending, a light 
from heaven fell along its length, and God him- 
self stood at its summit, saying, "I am the Lord 
God of Abraham thy father, and the God of 
Isaac : the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I 
give it, and to thy seed." 

Dimly, perhaps, but nevertheless really, Jacob 
had prized the spiritual blessings of God's cove- 



Days of Patriarchs: Jacol) and Joseph, 51 

nant, and now the higher aspiration of his soul 
found expression in a solemn vow, in which he 
plants himself on the word of Jehovah : ''If God 
w^ill be with me, and will keep me in this way 
that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and rai- 
ment to put on, so that I come again to my 
father's house in peace ; then shall the Lord be my 
God ; and this stone which I have set for a pillar, 
shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt 
give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee'' 
(Genesis 28: 20-22). 

This prayer breathes reverence, devoutness, 
and confidence. The suppliant asks five things 
at God's hand : 

(i) He asks for God's presence; ''if God will 
be with me." 

(2) He pleads for God's keeping; "and will 
keep me in this way that I go." 

(3) He craves God's providing care; "and 
will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on." 

(4) He begs that God will bring him back 
to his father's house ; "so that I come again to my 
father's house." 

(5) He desires that this return shall be "in 
peace." This appears to be the climax of his 
petitions. His departure was far from being in 
peace. As destined to inherit the birthright and 
the covenant blessing, Jacob looks forward to his 
return to his father's house, and, possibly with 
his thoughts on his angered brother and at the 
same time taking a wider range, he prays that 
his return may be in peace. 



52 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

In Padan-aram. — Reaching at length the end 
of his journey, Jacob meets at the well-side 
Rachel, the beautiful shepherdess daughter of his 
mother's brother, Laban. This uncle welcomes 
the exile to his household, and speedily there 
springs up an affection between Jacob and 
Rachel. The artful and selfish Laban readily 
accepts the offer of Jacob to serve him seven 
years for the hand of his daughter. This trans- 
action has been lightly treated as ''a custom of 
the land."' There appears to be no reason to 
think that any such custom existed, and we are 
to suppose that Jacob practically sold himself 
into bondage for his loved Rachel. That Rachel 
and Leah felt this as a sting of disgrace is indi- 
cated in their own words of explanation for 
leaving their father's house : 'Ts there yet any 
portion or inheritance for us in our father's 
house? Are we not counted of him strangers? 
for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also 
our money" (Genesis 31 : 14, 15). 

Rachel was beautiful and well favored, while 
Leah seems to have had some weakness or blem- 
ish of the eyes. When the seven years had 
passed, Laban, taking advantage of the custom 
which prevailed in the East of bringing a bride 
veiled to her husband, gave Leah to Jacob in- 
stead of Rachel, and defended his act by an ap- 
peal to the laws of the land, which forbade that 
a younger daughter should be given in marriage 
before her elder sister. The crafty Laban pro- 
posed that Jacob should serve him yet other 



Days of Patriarchs: Jacob and Joseph, 53 

seven years for Rachel. To this Jacob readily 
assented, ''and they seemed to him but a few 
days, for the love he had to her/' Thus four- 
teen years passed and Jacob had given his labor 
as compensation for his wives. Six years longer 
he continued to serve Laban, and by superior 
shrewdness, and possibly by the favoring hand of 
God, he came to possess much cattle and ex- 
tensive flocks. 

Back Toward Canaan. — The relations between 
Jacob and his father-in-law, which had been none 
too cordial, became strained and Jacob had reason 
to fear for his own safety. Directed by a vision 
of the ''God of Bethel,'' Jacob determined to take 
his wives and children and his possessions and re- 
turn to the land of his fathers. Fearing that 
Laban might seek by force to detain him, Jacob, 
having obtained the consent of his wives, gathered 
his family and his flocks and herds together, and, 
taking advantage of the absence of Laban on a 
three-days' journey at a sheepshearing, slipped 
away across the Euphrates and over the level 
plains toward his native Canaan. Learning of 
the departure of his son and daughters, Laban 
pursued them over the plains, and but for a 
special warning from God he might in his anger 
have wreaked vengeance upon Jacob. His in- 
dignation was increased because his household 
gods had been taken, Rachel having secreted 
these and carried them away. Delivered by di- 
vine intervention from one peril, the heir of the 



54 ^^^ Testament Studies, 

promise is soon to face another and much more 
serious menace. 

Jacob Meets Esau, — Twenty years before, 
Jacob had fled from the face of Esau, who, stung 
by a sense of injustice in the matter of the taking 
of the birthright, had sworn to slay his brother. 
Had Esau's anger subsided, or had it smoldered 
through the years only to break out into a mur- 
derous flame on the first sight of the man who 
had wronged him? These questions faced 
Jacob and gave him concern as he thought of a 
possible meeting with Esau. Unlike his former 
self, he is not now disposed to evade the issue ; he 
frankly sent word from the uplands of Gilead to 
Esau in the region of Mount Seir south of the 
Dead Sea announcing his coming. When the 
messengers returned, bringing word that Esau 
was coming with four hundred armed men, 
"Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed." 

As at Bethel, so again at the fords of the 
Jabbok, the better elements of Jacob's nature 
asserted themselves and he evidenced a clear 
vision of God and a conscious dependence upon 
divine protection. 

Jacob took the precaution to divide his com- 
pany into two groups with the hope that if one 
was destroyed the other might in the confusion 
escape. Then he betook himself to prayer. The 
next morning, in order to appease the wrath of 
his brother and possibly also in order to satisfy 
the cupidity of his followers, he sent to Esau in 
three successive groups rich presents, each time 



Days of Patriarchs : Jacol) and Joseph. 55 

sending with the gift a conciHatory message. 
At length he sent his wives and his sons over the 
brook; ''and Jacob was left alone; and there 
wrestled a man with him until the breaking of 
the day/' This one who wrestled with him was 
none other than Jehovah himself. When the 
mighty wrestler saw that he prevailed not, he 
touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh and his thigh 
was out of joint. Unable longer to continue the 
struggle, Jacob ceased to wrestle and began to 
cling; 'T will not let thee go, except thou bless 
me.'' Thus he prevailed, and meeting Esau in 
peace, this crisis of his life was safely passed. 
In memory of this signal victory he is given a 
new name; ''Thy name shall be called no more 
Jacob, but Israel : for as a prince hast thou 
power with God and with men, and hast pre- 
vailed." Arriving in Shechem, Jacob lingered 
for a time, and, directed by God in a vision, he 
made his way to Bethel, where he built an altar 
and worshiped God with all of his company. 

Besides his daughter, Dinah, eleven sons were 
born to Jacob in Haran, and now, as the family 
journeyed southward, his beloved Rachel died 
after giving birth to a twelfth son, whom Jacob 
named Benjamin. Coming again to "his fa- 
ther's house," he found his father Isaac yet alive, 
and together they made their home in Hebron. 

Jacob the Last of the Patriarchs, — Strictly 
speaking Jacob was the last of the patriarchs, 
though in a general way we consider the time 
from Abraham to Moses as the patriarchal 



56 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

period and we frequently reckon Joseph as one 
of the patriarchs. To Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob, Jehovah granted personal appearances 
and direct communications. These ceased with 
Jacob and were not afterwards granted save in 
rare and somewhat exceptional instances. 

Joseph inherited ' the twofold material blessing 
of the birthright, his two sons, Ephraim and 
Manasseh, being given each an equal place and 
inheritance with the brothers of Joseph. Judah 
came into the spiritual inheritance of the birth- 
right, his father pronouncing the prophetic bless- 
ing, 'The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, 
nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until 
Shiloh come'' (Genesis 49: 10). 

Joseph the Deliverer of His People. 

We come now to study the interesting career 
of Joseph, who ranks among the most charming 
and best loved characters in Old Testament his- 
tory. 

Sold Into Egypt. — Jacob had located in He- 
bron, and his sons were up in the neighborhood 
of Shechem keeping the flocks and herds. Al- 
ready the father had manifested partiality for 
Joseph the son of his loved Rachel. The ''coat 
of many colors'' given him by his father was a 
garment with long sleeves and flowing skirt, sig- 
nifying special dignity and indicating the pur- 
pose of the father to bestow upon him the bless- 
ing of the firstborn. As reflecting sentiments 



Days of Patriarchs : Jacol) and Joseph. 57 

and aspirations stirring in his own breast, Joseph 
dreamed two dreams, in each of which his broth- 
ers bowed in obeisance to him. Angered by 
these dreams and stung by the father's favorit- 
ism for Joseph, the brothers hated him and could 
not speak peaceably to him. When the father 
sent him to visit the brothers and bear them a 
message they planned to slay him, but Reuben, 
the eldest, moved by sympathy for the aged fa- 
ther, persuaded them to cast him into a pit, in- 
tending to come later and deliver the lad and 
restore him to his father. 

A company of Midianitish merchantmen came 
by, making their way toward Egypt, and at the 
suggestion of Judah the brothers sold Joseph to 
these men for twenty pieces of silver, and he 
was carried away into Egypt. The brothers then 
killed a kid and dipped in its blood Joseph's gar- 
ment which was the father's gift, and bore it 
away to Jacob, leaving with the father the im- 
pression that his son had been torn by sonne wild 
beast. His grief must have been the more severe 
as it followed close upon the death of Rachel. 
Joseph's life in Egypt falls into these divisions : 
( I ) As a slave in Potiphar's ho'Use, where he rose 
to a place of trust ; (2) as a prisoner through the 
malignity of Potiphar's wife, when again he rose 
to the highest position; (3) as ruler of Egypt, 
elevated by the king because of his wise inter- 
pretation of the king's dreams. 

Exalted to High Position, — As a slave Joseph 
attained a place of trust in the house of his mas- 



58 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

ter, so that we have this remarkable record : ''And 
he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he 
knew not aught he had, save the bread which he 
did eat/' Upon the false accusation of his mas- 
ter's wife, Joseph was cast into prison. Here he 
so deported himself as to secure the respect and 
command the confidence of his guards and asso- 
ciates. 

When the Pharaoh dreamed two dreams, one 
of seven blasted ears of corn devouring seven 
full ones, the other of seven lean kine devouring 
seven fat kine, Joseph interpreted the dreams to 
mean that there should be seven years of abun- 
dant harvests, these to be succeeded by seven 
years of famine, which should completely devour 
the fruits of the years preceding. Winning the 
favor of the court and the king by his wise in- 
terpretation and by his prudent speech, Joseph 
was lifted from the prison and given, next the 
king, the highest place in the realm. Through the 
seven years of plenty in which the earth brought 
forth in handfuls, vast storehouses and granaries 
were, under Joseph's direction, filled with grain 
in preparation for the coming seven years of 
famine. 

Delivers from Famine. — Being thirty years of 
age at the time of his elevatioin at the beginning 
of the seven years of plenty, Joseph was probably 
forty years of age when his brothers, driven by the 
famine which had made itself felt even in Canaan, 
came down to Egypt ''to buy corn." Of course, 
they could not recognize, in this mighty prince, 



Days of Patriarchs: Jacob and Joseph, 59 

the brother whom they had sold more than twenty 
years before ; but they had not changed so much, 
and doubtless Joseph was expecting that among 
those who were coming from afar his brothers 
would also come; he instantly recognized them. 
He faced now the delicate task of removing the 
bitterness which they had so unjustly felt against 
him and of bringing into Egypt his father's house 
that he might preserve and bless them. 

The steps in the slow process by which he 
accomplished these things are full of human in- 
terest, while the tact and gentleness of Joseph 
have endeared him to all succeeding ages. There 
are many beautiful touches of pathos; as when 
the aged trembling father gathered together such 
store of nuts and honey as the impoverished 
country of Canaan afiforded and sent them to the 
supposedly stern prince in Egypt in the hope that 
thus the prince might be appeased; also, when 
Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers and 
the bitterness of years was healed. 

Brings Israel into Egypt. — ^Convinced by the 
wagons and supplies which Joseph had sent, and 
strengthened by special divine revelation, Jacob 
with his household made his way into Egypt. 
Kindly received by Pharaoh, the sons of Israel 
were given the rich pasture land of Goshen lying 
between the Nile and the Arabian desert. The 
aged patriarch made it clear that only "to so- 
journ'' in the land were they come. Both Jacob 
and Joseph, in their departing requests, empha- 



60 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

sized this fact which was of vital momient in the 
Hfe of the chosen people. 

Jacob, when death was approaching, charged 
his sons that they should not bury him in the land 
of strangers, but should take his body back to the 
land of his fathers and give him burial along with 
Abraham and Isaac. When his end was near 
Joseph made the elders of Israel promise that 
when the Lord should lead them up out of Egypt 
to the land promised to his fathers they would 
carry with them his bones. The embalmed body 
of Joseph, awaiting a final burial, bore witness, 
through the long centuries which followed, to 
the purpose and promise of God to deliver his 
people. 

A Character of Rare Charm. — The varied ex- 
periences through which Joseph passed, with the 
singular beauty of his life, furnish many lessons 
of practical value. 

(i) The enduring power of early training. So 
deep wais the impress of his home life and early 
training that, though removed in youth to a cor- 
rupt and idolatrous land where he was sorely 
beset by temptation, Joseph stood firm in his de- 
votion to high ideals and in his fidelity to the God 
of his fathers. Consider also in this connection 
the inspiring career of Daniel. 

(2) The evil of parental favoritism. The 
marked partiality of Jacob for his son Joseph 
constituted a deep wrong in the family life, and 
this foolish policy sowed the seeds of hatred and 
murder, which afterwards bore such terrible 
fruitage. 



Days of Patriarchs : Jacol) and Joseph. Q1 

(3) The signij[icance of youthful dreams. 
Joseph's dreams indicated the aspirations which 
stirred within him, and forecast the career which 
awaited him. His father rebuked him, and his 
brothers hated him, for his dreams. This was 
possibly the deepest wrong which Joseph ever 
suffered. We owe it to O'Ur dreaming youths to 
regard with tender sympathy their dreams. 

(4) Faithfulness in obscure spheres. The key- 
note of Joseph's life is faithfulness. He was 
faithful in his father's house, and thus became 
overseer of his brothers. He was faithful as a 
slave in Potiphar's house, and thus became mas- 
ter of all that belonged to his lord. He was faith- 
ful in the prison, and thus attained first place 
among his fellow-prisoners. Piety and godliness 
constitute no bar to success in the affairs of life. 

(5) The lesson in personal purity. 'There are 
few subjects," says Dr. F. B. Meyer, ''which re- 
quire more notice both from speakers and writers 
than this great subject of chastity. There is no 
one sin which sooner corrupts the heart, weakens 
the intellect, and destroys the body than the sin 
of impurity." 

(6) The lesson in filial reverence. The rever- 
ent regard shown by Joseph for his aged father, 
his tender ministries, his affectionate presenta- 
tion of the rustic Jacob before the royal Pharaoh, 
his visit to his father's dying bed to receive his 
last blessing, these and other touches of filial de- 
votion, together with his kindly and forgiving 
spirit toward the brothers who had wronged him, 



62 Old Testament Studies, 

constitute no small element in the fine charm 
which invests this beautiful character. 

(7) A divine plan for each life. Joseph sees 
in his varied and wonderful experiences the hand 
of God, and humbly recognizes the divine plan 
for his life. ''God sent me before you," he says 
to his brothers, ''to preserve you a posterity in 
the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliv- 
erance. So now it was not you that sent me 
hither, but God'' (Genesis 45: 7, 8). 

Israel in Egypt. 

From the death of Joseph to the Exodus, a 
period of some 250 years, we have no record in 
the Scriptures. What we know of the chosen 
people during this period may be set forth in 
four words. 

Blessed, — Under the Pharaoh of Joseph's day, 
and his successors for a long period, the children 
of Israel were blessed and prosperous. Many of 
them resorted to agriculture, probably a few be- 
came merchants and traders, while a goodly num- 
ber continued to be herdmen and shepherds as 
they had been in Canaan. 

Oppressed, — Some time after the death of 
Joseph "there arose a king who knew not Joseph.'' 
This king no longer remembered gratefully the 
national debt to the great Hebrew, and, fearful 
of the growing power of the children of Israel, 
he began to oppress them. This oppression is 
marked by three stages : ( i ) The men of Israel 



Days of Patriarchs: Jacoh and Joseph. 63 

were forced to labor in hard bondage, building 
cities and public works; (2) when this failed to 
prevent the increase of the people, effort was 
made to secure through the midwives the de- 
struction of all male children bom among them; 
(3) this failing through the refusal of the mid- 
wives to comply with the cruel edict, the king of 
Egypt ordered that every miale child born among 
the Hebrews should be thrown into the Nile 
River. During this period Mosies was boirn. 

Multiplied. — Israel went down into Egypt 
"seventy souls,'^ though possibly the retainers and 
trained servants, of whom Abraham had in his 
house at least three hundred anid eighteen, may 
not have been taken into account. By the time 
of the Exodus they had become 600,000 fighting 
men, from which figures we may infer that they 
comprised a total population of about 2,000,000 
souls. The rich soil, the warm climate, and most 
of all the favoring hand of God, may be con- 
sidered as explaining this wonderful increase. 

Civilized. — ^The sons of Jacob went into Egypt, 
shepherds, crude and rough. Their descendants 
came out of Egypt with the impress of a great 
civilization. Evidences are abundant that Israel 
on coming out of Egypt brought with them much 
of culture in statecraft and practical arts. It 
would do violence to the facts to suppose that 
because they had been bondmen these people 
were therefore serfs or slaves. The readiness 
with which they accepted the proposal of Moses 
to lead them out of Egypt is in itself sufficient 



64 Old Testament Studies, 

proof that so far from their spirit being broken 
they cherished a desire for freedom and were 
willing to stand for their rights. 

Why This Long Period in Egypt? 

Strange are the ways of God. To Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob, Jehovah had reiterated his 
promises to give to their descendants the land in 
the midst of which they lived. And just when 
the seed of Abraham began to multiply and we 
are led to expect the fulfillment of the long- 
deferred promise, they were driven by famine 
intoi Egypt and were permitted to remain there 
hundreds of years. Why this strange providence? 
We are able to^ suggest some things which may 
shed light on the problem. 

Fulfillment of Prophecy. — God had distinctly 
declared tO' Abraham, that his seed should gO' into 
Egypt, and had even stated to him ithe duration 
of the stay there. ''Know assuredly that thy seed 
shall be a stranger in a land that is' not theirs and 
shall serve them ; and they shall afflict them four 
hundred years'' (Genesis 15: 13). 

Egyptian Caste and Prejvidice. — ^Social condi- 
tions in Egypt insured that Israel would grow to 
be what God mieant they should be, a peculiar and 
separated people. Iriasimuch as shepherds were 
''an abomination unto the Egyptians,'' a strong 
wall of caste and prejudice prevented the Israel- 
ites from intermingling with their Egyptian 
neighbors. 



Days of Patriarchs: Jacob and Joseph. gg 

Perih in Canaan. — It had already become man- 
ifest that if the sons of Israel remained at this 
time in Canaan they would intermingle and marry 
among the peoples of the land and thus lose their 
distinctness ; or, as is indicated in the affair of 
their sister, Dinah, they might become entangled 
in quarrels with 'their neighbors which would lead 
to their own destruction. 

Contact zvith a Great Civilization. — The people 
of Israel were thus in their formative diays as a 
nation brought into contact with the best civiliza- 
tion of ancient times. We have already seen that 
when the Hebrews came up out of Egypt they 
brought with them the impress of Egyptian en- 
lightenment and culture. 

The Book of Genesis. 

We are indebted to the book of Genesis for all 
accounts which precede the life of Moses, a 
period of 2,500 years and possibly much longer. 
What a priceless book is this ! Take this book 
from us, and you take away the inspired account 
of creation, of the entrance of sin, of the flood; 
you take away the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, 
and Joseph; you leave in darkness the origin of 
the Hebrew race and the beginning of God's 
wonderful revelation of himself to that race. In 
a word, without Genesis our Bible would be sadly 
incomplete. If one of the Gospels should be 
taken we would have three Gospels left; if the 
Acts of the Apostles should be taken we could 
reconstruct much of that wonderful history from 



66 Old Testament Studies, 

the Epistles amd other sources; if Romans were 
taken we could, from the Gospels and other 
Epistles, build up almost entirely that matchless 
discussion of vital gospel doctrines. If Genesis 
should be taken we would be bereft of inestimable 
information and invaluable records. If we might 
make comparison of the books of the Bible, is it 
too much to say that Genesis is the most indis- 
pensable book in the sacred library ? 



QUESTIONS. 

Wherein lies the chief value of the life of Jacob? 
Account for Jacob's flight to Haran. 
Tell of Jacob at Bethel. 
Relate happenings in Paclan-aram. 
Why did Jacob return to Canaan? 
Describe the meeting between Jacob and Esau. 

Relate the incidents which led to the sale of Joseph 
into Egypt. 
How did Joseph come to be ruler of Egypt? 
Tell of the deliverance from famine. 

What do we know of the children of Israel between 
the death of Joseph and the birth of Moses? 

Why this long period in Egypt? 

Indicate the value of the Book of Genesis. 



OUTLINES FOR CHAPTER IV. 



MOSES AND THE DEPARTURE FROM EGYPT. 

Scripture Record — Exodus, chapters 1-18. 
Selection for Reading and Study — Exodus 1-12. 
Time — Birth of Moses to Departure from Sinai, 
1578 to 1498 B.C. 



The Peepakation of Moses (Exodus 1-4). 

The Nations in the Time of Moses. 

Israel in Bondage. 

The Birth of Moses. 

The Flight of Moses and His Desert Life. 

The Call of Moses. 

An Era of Miracles. 

The Departuee feom Egypt (Exodus 5-18). 

The Contest with Pharaoh. 
The Ten Plagues. 
Israel Goes Out of Egypt. 
The Passover Instituted. 
Why into the Desert? 
The Journey to Sinai. 



(67) 



CHAPTER IV. 



MOSES AND THE DEPARTURE FROM 
EGYPT. 



Between the closing chapter of Genesis, which 
records the death of Joseph, and the opening 
chapters of Exodus, which tell of the birth of 
Moses, there is an interval of some 250 years. 
The events of this long period are set forth in 
the fouir words already studied, blessed, op- 
pressed, multiplied, civilised. 

The Preparation of Moses. 

The Nations in the Time of Moses, — (i) In 
Egypt. An ancient civilization prevailed. In the 
Nile delta and along the river for half a thou- 
sand miles lived a people who had grown rich 
and great by reason of the wonderful fertility of 
the soil and through the spoils of foreign con- 
quest. A mild-mannered but strong race, they 
were ruled in the autocratic fashion of the day 
by hereditary rulers who had genius both for war 
and government and who by forced labor carried 
on extensive public works. The fear which arose 
lest the Israelites should, in case of war join with 
some enemy, does not indicate weakness on the 
part of the Egyptians, inasmuch as a possible 
(68) 



Moses and the Departure from Egypt, gg 

force of 600,000 men such as the IsraeHtes could 
muster, situated in the very borders of Egypt, 
might well cause anxiety. 

(2) In the Arabian Desert. This territory, 
usually described as desert or wilderness, where 
Moses spent forty silent years and where later 
Israel wandered for forty years, was then, as now, 
inhabited by nomad tribes who shifted about as 
the exigencies of water and pasture required. 
These tribes were related to the Israelites, being 
descendants of Ishmael, the son of Abraham. 

(3) In Canaan. In the days of Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob, Canaan was occupied by scat- 
tered peoples who, as agriculturists and herdmen, 
had no settled government. Since those days 
various nations, notably the Philistines in the 
southwest, the Canaanites in the central part, and 
the Amalekites in the south, had come into pos- 
session of the land, though these for the most part 
had no strong natural bond, certain cities or 
groups of cities having their own kings. This 
divided condition may help to account for the 
remarkable military successes of the Israelites 
under Joshua. 

Israel in Bondage. — The first chapter of 
Exodus sets before us the sad afflictions of the 
chosen people. When Joseph was dead and his 
service to Egypt was forgotten, and when the 
children of Israel multiplied exceedingly, the 
Egyptians, fearful for the rapid growth of this 
subject race, resolved to reduce and crush them. 



70 Old Testament Studies. 

The Birth of Moses, — At this time, and under 
these conditions of oppression, Moses was born. 
His parents, Amram and Jochebed, dared to defy 
the edict of the king concerning the destruction 
of male children and hid the child three months. 
When, by reason of his growth, he could no 
longer be hid, his mother resorted to a wise ruse, 
and through the ready wit of his sister Miriam, 
the mother was chosen by the daughter of Pha- 
raoh ito care for the child until such time as the 
princess should claim him for her own son. 
Destined to a great career, Moses received a care- 
ful and varied training : ( i ) Under the care oif 
his Hebrew mother, who succeeded in putting on 
her child an impress from which he never got 
away; (2) in the court of Pharaoh where, under 
the hand of the princess, he received the training 
ordinarily given tO' youths of royal blood; (3) in 
the great seats of Egyptian learning. Thus when 
he came ito manhood, he "was learned in all the 
wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in 
words and in deeds.'' 

The Flight of Moses and His Desert Life, — 
The decision of Moses to forsake the courts of 
Egypt and ally himself with his despised and 
oppressed kinsmen could hardly have been the 
result of a sudden impulse ; the purpose must 
have been gradually formed in his heart as he 
came to maturity. A crisis came and a decision 
was forced when, by slaying an Egyptian for the 
wrong treatment o^f an Israelite, he was com- 
pelled to flee for safety to the back side of the 



Moses and the Departure from Egypt. 7I 

Arabian peninsula. Here he joined himself to a 
desert tribe descended from Abraham, and be- 
came son-in-law and shepherd to a priest named 
Reuel, or Jethro, as he is usually called. Thus, 
*'by faith Moses when he was come to years, re- 
fused tO' be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 
ohoosing rather tO' suffer affliction with the peopile 
of God', than to enjoy the pleasures oi sin for a 
season" (Hebrews 11 : 24, 25). 

The forty years which Moses spent as a herd- 
man in the desert brought him training for the 
high mission to which he was destined : ( i ) He 
came to a miastery of that fiery temperament 
which asserted itself in the killing of the Egyptian 
oppressor; (2) he came into a knowledge of the 
country in which for forty years he was to lead 
the people of Israel; (3) he learned in the quiet 
of the desert solitudes tO' know God in that won- 
derful fullness which revealed itself in the after 
years. 

The Call of Moses. — While the children of 
Israel were groaning beneath their afflictions and 
crying to God by reason of their bondage, God 
was moving, at the back side of the desert, 
toward their deliverance. Appearing to Moses in 
a bush which burned, and yet was not consumed, 
in the vicinity of Mt. Sinai, God revealed himself 
as Jehovah (I am that I am), and commissioned 
him to go to Pharaoh's court with Aaron his 
brother, and demand the release of Israel. 

Forward as Moses had been in the ardor of 
youth forty years before to undertake this task, 



72 Old Testament Studies. 

be is now so reluctant and hesitating as to incur 
the displeasure of God and to require the utmost 
of persuasion and command. By two miracles, 
the turning of the rod into a serpent and the 
making of his hand leprous and healing it again, 
Jehovah reassured his servant. These two mir- 
acles were to be repeated in the presence of 
Pharaoh and if he did not hearken, Moses was to 
work a third miracle of turning water into blood. 
An Era of Miracles. — These miracles wrought 
for Moses in the desert are the first miracles on 
record, and we enter now upon a time of wonder- 
ful miraculous demonstration never afterward 
witnessed save in the days of our Lord. Some 
supernatural works had been wrought before, 
such as the turning of Lot's wife to a pillar of 
salt, the gift of Isaac and others when the parents 
were past age, but these, though essentially 
miraculous, would hardly be considered as mir- 
acles in the sense of ''signs'' such as God gave to 
confirm the commission of Moses. It seems meet 
that in claiming Israel as his own people and in 
launching the nation upon its divine mission, God 
should vindicate his power and reveal himself in 
mighty works. 

The Departure from Egypt. 

The Contest with Pharaoh. — Moses and Aaron 
discreetly assembled the elders of Israel, wrought 
the signs concerning which God had given them 
commandment, and recounted all the words and 
promises of God. ''And the people believed : and 



Moses and the Departure from Egypt, 73 

when they heard that the Lord had visited the 
children of Israel, and that he had looked upon 
their affliction, then they bowed their heads and 
worshipped/' We come now to that awful con- 
flict which for almost a year waged between the 
obstinate king of Egypt and the King of all the 
earth. Doomed from the beginning to ultimate 
failure, Pharaoh fought against God, until at 
last, crushed and humbled by ten successive 
plagues, or ''strokes," he was glad enough to 
yield to Jehovah's demands and let the people 
go. When they had but scarcely gone forth 
from the land the haughty king hardened his 
heart anew and pursued them only to receive a 
final stunning blow in the destruction of the 
flower of his army in the Red Sea. 

The Ten Plagues. — These ''plagues" are 
thought to have begun perhaps in June, while 
the culmination in the slaying of the firstborn 
occurred certainly in the spring, March or April. 
They were: (i) Water turned into blood, (2) 
frogs, (3) lice, (4) flies, (5) murrain of beasts, 
(6) boils upon men and beasts, (7) hail, (8) lo- 
custs, (9) darkness, (10) death of firstborn. 
In this connection difficulty has been felt along 
four lines. 

I. To what extent were these visitations due 
to natural causes f If in the days of the fathers 
there was a ready tendency to accept the super- 
natural, in our day the pendulum seems to swing 
back in the other direction, and many are now 
disposed to seek natural explanation for the mir- 



74 Old Testament Studies. 

acles of Scripture. It is assuredly true that God, 
in all his dealings with his creatures, has shown 
partiality for the orderly and usual working of 
nature's laws. Without doubt some of these 
plagues were in line with natural grievous visita- 
tions which have for thousands of years visited 
the land of Egypt, such as frogs, flies, lice, 
locusts, and hail. The divine and supernatural, 
however, clearly appear in that in each case the 
scourge came and went at the word of Moses, 
and also in that the distress fell upon the Egyp- 
tians while the Lord's people in Goshen were 
spared. The reality of these plagues as super- 
natural strokes is evidenced, (i) by the historic 
fact that a race of slaves was permitted to march 
away from Egypt, and (2) by the further fact 
that forty years after when Israel approached the 
promised land there still lingered among the in- 
habitants of Canaan the memory of Jehovah's 
wonderful deliverance of his people (Joshua 
2: 10), as also (3) by the fact that these marvels 
lived in the hearts of Israel through the genera- 
tions which succeeded. 

2. How shall we reconcile God's direction to 
Moses to demand of Pharaoh that he allow Israel 
to go a three days' journey into the desert for 
sacrifice, when it is clear that from the beginning 
it was the divine purpose that Israel should go 
out of Egypt to the land promised to their 
fathers? It is frequently said that this was a 
thinly veiled statement that could hardly have 
deceived Pharaoh. It is perhaps better to say 



Moses and the Departure from Egypt. 75 

that God would adjust his demands to Pharaoh's 
weakness and bHndness with a view to making 
obedience as easy as possible. If Pharaoh had 
yielded to this natural and proper demand, which 
was the more reasonable as the sacrifices of Israel 
would have been an abomination in the eyes of 
the Egyptians, it would have been comparatively 
easy by gradual stages to come to the point of 
yielding to God as further demands were made. 
Jehovah mercifully adapts his demands and his 
plans to the weakness of his creatures. 

3. How are we to account for the statement 
that ''God hardened Pharaoh's heartT' It is not 
to be expected that we can solve all the mysteries 
which lie in the dealings of God with men. It has 
been pointed out that twice ten times in this his- 
tory is the expression hardening used in connec- 
tion with Pharaoh. ''Now it is remarkable that 
of the twenty passages which speak of Pharaoh's 
hardening, exactly ten ascribe it to Pharaoh him- 
self and ten to God. . . . After each of the 
first five plagues the hardening is expressly at- 
tributed to Pharaoh himself. Only when still 
resisting after the sixth plague do we read that 
the Lord made firm the heart of Pharaoh. But 
even so, space for repentance must have been left, 
for after the seventh plague we read again (Ex- 
odus 9: 34) that Tharaoh made heavy his heart;' 
and it is only after the eighth plague that the 
agency is exclusively ascribed to God'' (Eder- 
sheim). 



76 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

The fact seems to be that when Pharaoh had 
hardened his heart denying and defying God and 
had thus sealed his doom, God hardened, ''made 
strong/' his heart to the end that for all time God 
might show in Pharaoh the swiftness and cer- 
tainty of his wrath against willful and rebellious 
sinners. 

4. What of the statement that the children of 
Israel ''borrowed of the Egyptians,'' when they 
knew that they were going out of Egypt not to 
return? This seem.ing difficulty, of which much 
has been made, disappears entirely when we read 
the passage as it is rendered in the Revised Ver- 
sion. Here the words "ask" and ''asked'' are 
found instead of "borrow" and "borrowed." The 
Israelites, when starting on the long desert jour- 
ney, requested gifts of the people whose slaves 
they had been, and received willing offerings from 
those who, in the presence of God's wonderful 
works, were conscience-stricken. These varied 
gifts of the Egyptians doubtless account in some 
measure for the ability of the children of Israel 
to build in the desert the rich and costly tent of 
meeting known as the tabernacle. 

Israel Goes Out of Egypt. — Through the 
greater part of a year the battle raged between 
Pharaoh and the God of Israel; blow after blow 
fell upon Egypt; humbled and temporarily yield- 
ing, the king again and again seemed to give up 
the fight, only to harden his heart when in mercy 
the distress was relieved. During this time the 



Moses mid the Departure from Egypt. 



77 



elders and people of Israel were gradually pre- 
pared for the final week ; and doubtless extensive 
preparations were made for the departure from 
Egypt. The people numbered six hundred thou- 
sand men which probably indicates a total popu- 
lation of two millions. The removal of so great 




a population with their possessions and flocks and 
herds would require much time and effort. 

The plagues had steadily increased in severity 
until a climax was reached when the death angel 
passed over the land, destroying the firstborn of 
man and beast among the Egyptians. Crushed by 
this terrible blow, Pharaoh and his people en- 
treated Israel to leave, and were ready to hurry 
them out of the land. 



78 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

The Passover Instituted. — In the dreadful 
night when the angel of Jehovah went through 
the land to destroy the firstborn of man and beast, 
the blood of the slain lamb on the door-posts of 
the Israelites was the signal for the death-angel 
to pass over and spare these homes. In commem- 
oration of this merciful deliverance, the Israelites 
ever afterwards celebrated the Passover feast. 
Its chief features were, ''(i) the offering of a 
single victim for each Paschal company; (2) the 
Paschal meal with which the festival began; (3) 
the eating of unleavened bread during the whole 
time it lasted." 

Why into the Desert? — The land of Canaan, 
long promised to the seed of Abraham, lay only 
a few hundred miles away over an ancient road, 
and might have been reached in a fortnight. Why 
did Moses lead the children of Israel into the 
remote desert instead of directly into Canaan? 

( 1 ) The inspired record gives the chief reason, 
"And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the 
people go, that God led them not through the 
way of the land of the Philistines, although that 
was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the 
people repent when they see war, and they return 
to Egypt" (Exodus 13: 17). 

(2) The chosen people required for a season 
the quiet of worship and training which would 
be possible only in the desert life to which Moses 
led them. They were just out of slavery, their 
sense of national unity needed to be developed, 
and they required to be instructed in the things 
of God. 



Moses and the Departure from Egypt. 79 

The Journey to Sinai. — The time from the de- 
parture of the people to their arrival before Mt. 
Sinai was six weeks. This journey was marked 
by striking interventions of divine power. 

(i) At the Red Sea. God parted the waters of 
the Red Sea and made Israel to pass over dry- 
shod. When the people had gone forth, and 
Pharaoh and his courtiers had reflected upon their 
defeat and loss, they rallied the flower of the 
Egyptian army and hastened in pursuit. When 
this army with its six hundred chariots came into 
view the Israelites found themselves completely 
hedged in, an armed force in the rear, the sea in 
front, and no way of escape. Terrified at first, 
but presently reassured by the word of Jehovah, 
the people marched straight forward. Meantime 
God caused a strong east wind to blow the waters 
back and they marched across on dry land. When 
the Egyptians dared to follow in pursuit, at the 
word of Moses and the stretching forth of his 
rod, the waters rolled in again, destroying the 
hosts of Egypt. This signal deliverance, which 
was forty years afterwards paralleled by the 
crossing of the Jordan dry-shod, was celebrated 
by a song composed by Moses and sung by all 
Israel. (Exodus 15: 1-19). 

(2) The Pillar of Cloud. God vouchsafed to 
Israel a special symbol of his presence in the pillar 
of cloud by day and of fire by night. This visible 
symbol served to keep the tribes together in 
travel and constituted a constant reminder and 
assurance of the divine presence in the midst of 
Israel. 



80 Old Testament Studies. 

(3) Manna, As soon as the stores brought out 
of Egypt were exhausted, God began to give as 
food the manna which through all the forty years 
of wandering was found each morning lying like 
frost on the ground. 

(4) Water from a Rock, When the water 
which they had brought with them was exhausted 
and the people murmured, calling upon Moses to 
give them water, the Lord directed Moses to 
smite the rock, ''and there shall come water 
out of it so that the people may drink/' And 
Moses did so in the sight of the elders of 
Israel. This miracle of making water flow from 
a rock was repeated near the close of the wilder- 
ness wandering, when Moses was commanded to 
speak to the rock and smote it instead, being ex- 
cluded from Canaan for his failure to sanctify 
Jehovah in the eyes of Israel. 



Moses and the Departure from Egypt. gl 

QUESTIONS. 

Name important events in the Old Testament to the 

time of Moses. 
Describe conditions in Egypt, in the Arabian 

desert, and in Canaan at the time of the Exodus. 
Indicate three stages in the education of Moses. 
Tell of the flight of Moses from Egypt and of his 

life in the desert. 
Describe the call of Moses. 

Why should we expect that this period would be espe- 
cially marked by miracles? 

Tell of the contest with Pharaoh. 

To what extent were the plagues due to natural 
causes ? 

What of the demand to go a three day's journey 
into the desert when they did not intend to 
return? 

Explain the statement that God hardened Pha- 
raoh's heart. 

What of the statement that the Israelites "bor- 
rowed of the Egyptians"? 

Tell of the departure from Egjrpt and explain why 
the children of Israel did not go direct to Ca- 
naan. 

What was the significance of the Passover? 

Indicate some miracles which were wrought on 
the way to Sinai. 

6 



OUTLINES FOR CHAPTER V. 



THE WILDERNESS WANDERINGS. 

Scripture Record — Exodus, chapters 19-40 ; Levit- 

ticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. 
Selections for Reading and Study — Exodus 35 ; 

Numbers 13, 14, 20 ; Deuteronomy 1-5, 31, 32. 
Time — Arrival at Sinai to Death of Moses, 1498- 

1459 B.C. 



Before Mount Sinai (ExoduS 19-40, and Leviticus). 

Mount Sinai. 

The Ten Commandments Given. 
The Golden Calf Destroyed. 
The Tabernacle Built. 

Its Pattern. 

Its Materials. 

Its History. 
The Levitical Laws Given. 

From Sinai to Kadesh-barnea (Numbers 10: 33 — 12). 

The Spies. 
Israel Defeated. 

The Wilderness Wanderings. 

In the Arabian Desert. 
The Fiery Serpents. 

Preparation for Canaan (Deuteronomy). 

Moses' Farewell Addresses. 
Moses' Life in Outline. 
Moses Dies on Mt. Nebo. 
Burial of Moses. 

(82) 



CHAPTER V. 



THE WILDERNESS WANDERINGS. 



Before Mount Sinai. 

Mount Sinai. — For a whole year the chosen 
people camped in the vicinity of Mount Sinai, 
which seems to have been a peak in the general 
range called Horeb, in the southern part of the 
Arabian peninsula. ''No one who has approached 
the Ras Sufoafeh through that noble plain, or 
who has looked down upon the plain from that 
majestic height, will willingly part with the be- 
lief that these are the two essential features of 
the scene of the Israelitish camp. . . . The 
awful and lengthened approach as to some nat- 
ural sanctuary, would have been the fittest prepa- 
ration for the coming scene. . . . The cliff, 
rising like a huge altar, in front of the whole 
congregation, and visible against the sky in lonely 
grandeur from end to end of the whole plain, is 
the very image of 'the mount that might not be 
touched,' and from w^hich the voice of God might 
be heard far and wide over the stillness of the 
plain below" (Dean Stanley). 

Here is an unprecedented sight. A people 
numbering two million souls, with their flocks 
and herds and all of their possessions, is assem- 

(83) 



84 ^^^ Testament Studies, 

bled far away in the wilderness to worship Je- 
hovah and to receive his commands. Their black 
tents range along the valley as far as the eye can 
reach, while back in the recesses of the hills are 
the sheep and cattle brought from the rich plains 
of Goshen. Such a scene was never witnessed 
before or since, when a whole nation presented 
itself in the desert before God. 

During this year spent before Sinai four events 
stand out in special distinctness. 

The Ten Commandments Given. — When the 
people had sanctified themselves according to the 
word of the Lord, they assembled at Mt. Sinai, 
and ''there were thunders and lightnings and a 
thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of a 
trumpet exceeding loud." Jehovah first spoke 
''the ten words'' audibly to the assembled people ; 
later these words were written by the finger of 
God on tables of stone, and Moses brought these 
tables down the mountain. 

This giving of the law was august and glorious 
beyond words. Nothing was wanting in the 
physical environment to lend impressiveness ; the 
solitude of the desert, the somber mountains with 
their beetling crags, the fire and smoke, the 
audible voice of Jehovah, all combined to make 
this event grand and solemn. 

The first commandment declares the supremacy 
of God and claims for him the first place, forbid- 
ding the worship of any other. 

The second commandment declares God's spir- 
ituality, and forbids the making of any material 
likeness or image of God. 



The Wilderness Wanderings. 85 

The third commandment safeguards the name 
by which Jehovah is known. So high and holy 
is God that his very name is to be regarded with 
reverence and must not be Hfted up unto vanity. 

The fourth commandment impHes a previous 
knowledge of the Sabbath in that the people are 
called upon to ''remember'' the Sabbath day; it 
demands that the day be observed as sacred or 
holy unto Jehovah. 

The fifth of the commandments sets up father 
and mother as deserving of honor and puts the 
word of divine authority back of parenthood. To 
enforce this commandment a promise of long life 
is attached. 

The sixth commandment safeguards human 
life. Later this law was reenforced by the enact- 
ment that whosoever should shed man's blood, by 
man should his blood be shed. 

The seventh commandment demands social 
purity and as interpreted by our Lord forbids 
even impure thinking. 

The eighth of the ten commandments stands 
for the rights of property and safeguards human 
rights. 

The ninth commandment forbids false witness 
and is thus exceedingly broad. 

The tenth commandment pierces to the inner 
secrets and desires of the heart and forbids the 
harboring of any evil wish for that which belongs 
to one's neighbor. 

''Such law was never given by man; never 
dreamed of in his highest conceptions. Had man 



8g Old Testament Studies. 

only been able to observe it, assuredly not only 
life hereafter, but happiness and joy here would 
have come with it. As it was, it brought only 
knowledge of sin. Yet forever blessed be God : 
'The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth 
came by Jesus Christ' '' (Edersheim). 

The Golden Calf Destroyed. — Moses lingered 
in the mount and the people grew discouraged 
and impatient ; perhaps their leader had been con- 
sumed in the fire that burned on the mountain 
top. Reverting to the idolatry of their fathers in 
Mesopotamia, or more probably influenced by the 
idolatry of their recent Egyptian neighbors, they 
called upon Aaron to make for them a golden calf 
to represent God. Around this image the people 
gathered and indulged in noisy and licentious 
orgies. As Moses descended from the mount, 
with Joshua his minister, they heard the shouts in 
the camp below. Aroused and indignant over 
this flagrant violation of the second command- 
ment, Moses ground to powder the calf which 
Aaron had made, and, scattering it over the 
waters of a near-by stream, compelled the people 
to drink of the water. 

The Tabernacle Built. — (i) Its pattern. We 
are distinctly told (Acts 7 : 44 and Hebrews 8:5) 
that Jehovah showed to Moses in the holy mount 
the plans according to which the tabernacle was 
to be built. Clearly these directions included the 
small as well as the great things involved. 

(2) Its materials. These were the richest and 
finest that could be provided. Indeed, the rich- 



The Wilderness Wanderings. §7 

ness of material used and the fineness of the 
structure have led some unthinking critics to 
question whether such workmanship was possible 
to a race newly escaped from slavery. The m.a- 
terial doubtless came from the gifts of the Egyp- 
tians, while we are distinctly told that certain 
men were divinely endowed for the task of devis- 
ing and constructing this tent of meeting. 

(3) Its history. The tabernacle continued 
through upwards of 400 years to be the center for* 
Israel's w^orship. It remained in use presumably 
until the erection of Solomon's temple, though 
what was done with it when the temple was occu- 
pied is not recorded. 

The Levitical Laws Given. — Apart from the 
'Ten Words'' we are not clearly told how the 
Mosaic law was given. While much of this leg- 
islation must have been directly revealed, all of 
it being inspired, it would seem that in civil and 
ecclesiastical cases Moses gave judgment under 
God's guidance and these judgments became 
precedents or laws, being later written down for 
the guidance of the nation. 

From Sinai to Kadesh-barnea. 

The Spies. — At the close of the year before 
Mt. Sinai, the children of Israel broke camp and 
marched away to Kadesh-barnea, evidently ex- 
pecting to press on into the promised land. As 
a matter of precaution (Deuteronomy i: 22), 
they chose men to go before them to spy out the 
land and report as to its fertility, the nature of 



88 The Wilderness Wanderings. 

its inhabitants and the best way of approach. 
From among the leading men of each of the 
tribes, twelve men were selected for this hazard- 
ous undertaking. These went up through the 
land and returned after forty days bringing with 
them fruits which indicated the exceeding fer- 
tility of the soil. The twelve agreed that it was 
a goodly land flowing with milk and honey as 
Jehovah had said, but ten of them brought an 
unbelieving report, asserting that the land was 
inhabited by giants with walled cities, and de- 
claring that the people wxre not able to take the 
land. Thus they made the hearts of Israel to 
melt with fear. In vain did brave, believing 
Caleb and Joshua seek to stay the evil tide, say- 
ing, ''The land, which we passed through to 
search it, is an exceeding good land. If the Lord 
delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, 
and give it us'' (Numbers 14: 7, 8). 

Israel Defeated. — The ten had sv/ept the people 
with their weak and fearful words and the tides 
of discouragement had set in too strongly to be 
stayed. A movement was started to depose 
Moses and Aaron, to elect new leaders, and re- 
trace their steps into Egypt. Rallying next day 
and recovering somewhat from their panic, the 
people came together and requested Moses to 
lead them up into the land. Moses declared that 
he would not go, neither the ark of God, and that 
the presence of God would not be with them. In 
the same spirit of unbelief which prompted their 
former refusal to go, they now resolve to go up, 



The Wilderness Wa/nderings. 89 

in disobedience to the word of Moses. Kadesh- 
barnea is on the southern border of the Negeb 
or South Country, some twenty or thirty miles 
south of Beersheba. From Kadesh-barnea the 
people go up to battle against the inhabitants of 
the southern section of Canaan, only to be de- 
feated and chased before their enemies. 

The Wilderness Wanderings. 

In the Arabian Desert. — After this event 
through a period covering almost thirty-eight 
years we have scarcely any record of the chosen 
people. We are not to suppose that they traveled 
constantly during this long period, but rather that 
they moved from place to place, possibly in the 
vicinity of Kadesh-barnea, as the exigencies of 
grass and water might require. When the older 
generation which so signally failed was dead, the 
people came again to Kadesh-barnea, resolved to 
go in and take the land of Canaan. The most 
direct route was that which led north immediately 
into the land. Instead of this, Moses led the peo- 
ple by a circuitous way around the Dead Sea with 
a view to entering Canaan from the east across 
the Jordan. 

The Fiery Serpents. — It was during this final 
journey that the people were bitten by fiery ser- 
pents, Moses erecting a brazen serpent, upon 
which when the people looked, they were healed. 
(See John 3 : 14, 15.) The defeat of Sihon king 



90 ^^^ Testament Studies, 

of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan, gave to 
the Israelites possession of the land east of the 
Dead Sea and of the River Jordan. 

Preparation for Canaan. 

The hosts of Israel had come at last to the 
borders of the land promised to their fathers. 
During the long years of waiting and wandering in 
the wilderness they were gradually moulded into 
a nation; through the instruction of Moses and 
by experiences of divine provision and protection 
they had entered into an enlarged knowledge of 
Jehovah. Before they marched across Jordan 
some interesting and important events transpired. 

Moses' Farewell Addresses. — Because, in smit- 
ing the rock when God had bidden him speak to 
it, Moses failed to sanctify God in the eyes of 
the people, he was not to be permitted to enter 
the promised land. As the crowning service of 
his long life, Moses assembled the people and de- 
livered a series of addresses in which he re- 
counted God's wonderful dealings, reminding 
them of their own sinful murmurings and of 
God's loving faithfulness. Deuteronomy (Sec- 
ond Law) records these addresses, the book being 
so named because it is a second statement of the 
Law. In strength of expression, in breadth of 
statesmanship, in warmth of patriotism, in clear- 
ness and vigor of thought, these addresses hold 
a unique place even in inspired literature. These 
addresses have been thus characterized: 



The Wilderness Wanderings. 91 

First address (chapters 1-4) — Retrospect. 
Second address (chapters 5-26) — Exposition. 
Third address (chapters 2y, 28) — Exhortation. 
Fourth address (chapters 29, 30) — Renewal. 
Last address (chapters 31-34) — Farewell. 
— H. C. Moore. 

Moses' Life in Outline. 

1. Forty 3' ears in Egypt — Trained, 
(i) In the home of his parents, 

(2) In Pharaoh's court, 

(3) In the universities of the day. 

2. Forty years in the Desert — Learned, 

( 1 ) Self-mastery, 

(2) The desert country, 

(3) The deep things of God. 

3. Forty years with Israel — Became, 
(i) Leader and Law-giver, 

(2) Prophet of Jehovah, 

(3) Writer of Sacred Scripture. 

Moses Dies on Mount Nebo. 

While his natural strength was unabated and 
his eye undimmed, Moses yet knew that the day 
drew near when he must die. Having delivered 
his farewell address and pronounced a last solemn 
benediction, he goes out of the camp from among 
the people and ascends a high peak in the moun- 
tains of Moab. From this peak he is permitted 



92 Old Testament Studies. 

to survey the land which he is forbidden to enter. 
How sublimely simple is the narrative. How 
thoroughly human Moses appears. He shows no 
abnormal resignation, but craves to enter and see 
the land and asks God to set aside the decree 
which has gone forth. Those who see in God's 
dealings with Moses at this time only the stern- 
ness of rigid justice, fail to go further and follow 
the tenderness and gentleness manifest in the 
manner of Moses' death and burial. Lest the 
people should make a shrine of his grave and 
come hither to worship, God buried Moses in an 
unknown grave in the lonely mountains, and no 
man knew the place of his burial. 

Burial of Moses. 

' "By Nebo's lonely mountain, 

On this side Jordan's wave, 
In a vale of the land of Moab 

There lies a lonely grave. 
But no man dug that sepuleher, 

And no man saw it e'er ; 
For the angels of God upturned the sod. 

And laid the dead man there. 

"That was the grandest funeral 

That ever passed on earth ; 
But no man heard the trampling 

Or saw the train go forth. 
Noiselessly as the daylight 

Comes, when the night is done, 
Or the crimson streak on ocean's cheek 

Fades in the setting sun. 

"Noiselessly as the springtime 
Her spell of verdure w^eaves. 
And all the trees on all the hills 
Open their countless leaves ; 



The 'Wilderness Wanderings. 93 

So, \Yithout sound of music, 

Or voice of them that wept. 
Silently down from the mountain's crown, 

That great procession swept. 

"And had he not high honor? 

The hillside for his pall, 
To be in state while angels wait, 

With stars for tapers tall. 
The dark rock-pines, like tossing plumes, 

Over his bier to wave. 
And God's own hand in that lonely land 

To lay him in the grave. 

"O lonely tomb in Moab's land! 

O dark Beth-peor's hill ! 
Speak to these curious hearts of ours, 

And teach them to be still : 
God hath His mysteries of grace, 

Waj^s that we cannot tell. 
He hides them deep, like the secret sleep 
Of him He loved so well." 

— Cecil Frances Alexander. 



QUESTIONS. 

Describe the environs of Mt. Sinai. 

Under what conditions were the Ten Command- 
ments given? Name them. 
Who made the golden calf, and why? 
Concerning the tabernacle, tell of (1) its pattern, 
(2) its materials, (3) its history. 

Give the essential points in the incident of the spies 
and the turning back from Canaan. 

Indicate some of the happenings of the 38 years' wan- 
dering. 

Where were the farewell addresses of Moses delivered? 
Where are they recorded? 
Give the life of Moses in outline. 
Tell of the death and burial of Moses. 



OUTLINES FOR CHAPTER VI. 



THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN. 

Scripture Record — The Book of Joshua. 
Selections for Reading and Study — Joshua 1, 6-10, 

22-24. 
Time — From Death of Moses to Death of Joshua, 

1459 to 1434 B.C. 



Entering Canaan (Joshua 1-5). 
The Promised Land. 
God's Charge to Joshua. 
Spies Sent. 

The faith of Israel Challenged. 
The Passover Observed. 
The Manna Ceased. 

The Capture of Jericho (Joshua 6). 
Joshua Directed Concerning Jericho* 
Jericho Compassed by Israel. 
Jehovah Overthrows Jericho. 
Rahab and Her Family Spared. 
Curse upon the Rebuilder of Jericho. 

The Taking of Ai (Joshua 7, 8). 

Defeat Before Ai. 
Achan is Stoned. 
Ai is Captured. 

A Journey to Shechem (Joshua 8). 

The Law is Ratified. 
Joseph's Bones are Buried. 

The Conquest of the Land (Joshua 9^22). 
The Stratagem of the Gibeonites. 
Joshua's Southern Campaign. 
Joshua's Northern Campaign. 
Allotment of the Land. 

Joshua's Farewell (Joshua 23, 24). 
Joshua's Life in Outline. 

(94) 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN. 



The period which we are now to study is, in 
point of time, the shortest of the periods of Old 
Testament history, covering only some seven to 
ten years, though it ranks high in importance and 
in thrilling interest. 

Entering Canaan. 

The Promised Land. — Hundreds of years be- 
fore, God had called Abraham from Chaldea, and, 
showing him the land of Canaan, had promised 
the land to him and his descendants. Through 
the ages this promise had been cherished and this 
land had been regarded with sacred reverence. 
When Abraham would send his servant back to 
Mesopotamia for a wife for Isaac, his chief con- 
cern was that his son should in no wise leave 
Canaan; when Jacob was departing from Laban 
in Haran, he turned his face steadfastly back to 
the land of his birth, in spite of the fact that his 
outraged brother had his home in that vicinity ; 
when Jacob faced death, he made his sons swear 
that they would bury him in the land of his 
fathers ; when Joseph was nearing the end of his 
earthly career, he caused the elders of Israel to 
swear that when God should lead the people out 

(95) 



96 



Old Testament Studies, 



to the land of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they 
would carry with them his embalmed body; so 
deeply had this thought of the promised posses- 
sion taken root in the heart of the chosen nation, 



CA^4AAM 




when they left Egypt, they seem never to have 
wavered in their desire and determination to 
reach the 'land of promise.'' 

After forty years of wandering and of dis- 
cipline, the people were on the borders of this 
land, long promised and deeply loved. 



The Conquest of Canaan. 9Y 

God's Charge to Joshua. — For thirty days the 
people mourned the death of Moses. With what 
deep and sincere lamentation they must have re- 
garded the removal of the man who had borne 
them as a nursing father and had moulded them 
from a race of slaves into an organized nation. 

To Joshua, now called to leadership, the Lord 
spoke in strong and comforting words, laying 
special emphasis on two things : ( i ) He is to 
be strong and of a good courage, and (2) he is 
to observe to do according to all the law. ''Only 
be thou strong and very courageous, that thou 
mayest observe to do according to all the law, 
which Moses my servant commanded thee : turn 
not from it to the right hand or to the left, that 
thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. 
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy 
mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and 
night: that thou mayest observe to do according 
to all that is written therein ; for then thou shalt 
make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt 
have good success. Have not I comm.anded thee? 
Be strong and of a good courage ; be not afraid, 
neither be thou dismayed : for the Lord thy God 
is with thee withersoever thou goest'' (Joshua 
1:7-9). 

Spies Sent. — Joshua takes the precaution to 
send two young men across the Jordan to bring 
back report of the land, and of the attitude of 
the inhabitants toward the invading hosts of Is- 
rael. These brave young men return with the 
information that the hearts of the people of the 

7 



98 O^^^ Testament Studies. 

land have melted with fear: ^'Truly the Lord 
hath dehvered into our hands all the land; for 
even all the inhabitants of the country do faint 
because of us'' (Joshua 2: 24). 

The Faith of Israel Challenged. — The divine 
call to enter Canaan involved a three-fold chal- 
lenge to the faith of Joshua and of Israel. 

(i) The Jordan was now at its flood, more 
than a half mile w4de. Humanly speaking, it was 
all but impossible with the facilities then at hand 
to transport a vast host with women and children 
and flocks and herds across that swollen river. 

(2) They were to carry directly into the hos- 
tile land their families and their possessions. 
Military prudence would have suggested that the 
armed warriors alone should cross the river. 

(3) The very fact that these invaders should 
boldly cross the Jordan for the avowed purpose 
of conquest would serve notice on the inhabitants 
of the land that they must stand for their lives. 
They well knew that no quarter would be asked, 
and none shown. 

The ready response of Joshua and of all Israel 
to this three-fold challenge stands among the 
noblest of all exhibitions of faith. ''And Joshua 
said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves ; for to- 
morrow the Lord will do wonders among you.'' 
And on the morrow the Lord indeed did wonders 
for his people. When the waters of the Red Sea 
parted, God used a strong east wind. This use 
of natural means has led some to question whether 
any supernatural element was present. Now at 



The Conquest of Canaan. 99 

the Jordan there is not even wind; God parts the 
waters, and the wondering hosts of Israel march 
dry-shod into the promised land. 

The Passover Observed, — Joshua had been 
especially admonished to observe to do according 
to all the law. For some reason Moses had suf- 
fered the people to neglect the Passover and many 
other requirements of the law. John Calvin was 
the first to suggest that, as a disobedient and re- 
jected people, they were not permitted in the 
wilderness to observe the special ceremonies 
which marked them as God's chosen nation. Now 
that the old rebellious race is dead and a new 
generation has arisen, among whom Jehovah is 
to dwell and show forth his wonders, it is meet 
that the law in all of its requirements shall be 
obeyed. ''And the children of Israel encamped 
in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteenth 
day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho" 
(Joshua 5 : 10). 

The Manna Ceased. — ^'And the manna ceased 
on the morrow after they had eaten of the old 
corn of the land; neither had the children of Is- 
rael manna any more ; but they did eat of the fruit 
of the land of Canaan that year'' (Joshua 5 : 12). 

The times of the Exodus and the Conquest, as 
we have already noted, were marked by an abund- 
ance of miracles. Before the Exodus, while we 
have much of the supernatural, as in the flood, 
the birth of Isaac and others, the turning of Lot's 
wife to a pillar of salt, we have scarcely any mir- 
acles or signs given expressly to attest a messen- 



100 ^^^ Testament Studies, 

ger or to vindicate the divine presence. A study 
of Old Testament miracles will show that during 
the days of Moses and Joshua there is more of 
the miraculous than in any other period of Old 
Testament history. The reason for this is not 
far to seek. God is calling out a people and estab- 
lishing them in a land of his own choosing, that, 
through this people, he may reveal himself to the 
world and that, from among this people, he may 
manifest his own Son in the flesh. Surely it is 
but natural that in this crucial time which was to 
tell on all later times, God should give special and 
bountiful evidence of his divine power and pres- 
ence. 

The Capture of Jericho. 

Joshua Directed Concerning Jericho. — The 
people of Israel are now encamped at Gilgal on 
the plains of Jericho. A few miles away, and 
commanding the mountain passes which lead up 
into the land, is the w^alled city of Jericho. The 
rulers of this city have closed the gates and pre- 
pared to make defense against the invading foe. 
Having risen early in the morning, Joshua is 
praying ''over against Jericho," and while thus 
engaged in prayer God appears to him with 
words of comfort and gives him direction con- 
cerning the campaign against Jericho. The first 
victory in the new land is to be wrought by God's 
own power without a blow on the part of Israel ; 
God will add one more signal evidence of his 
choice of the children of Israel and of his pur- 
pose to bless them. 



The Conquest of Canaan, '[Q^ 

Jericho Compassed by Israel. — The plan of 
campaign for the destruction of Jericho, as an- 
nounced to Joshua, was the strangest ever 
devised for the destruction of a fortified city. 
Once a day for six days and seven times on the 
seventh day the whole multitude of Israel, pre- 
ceded by the Ark of the Covenant, was to march 
in silence around the walls of the city. ''And it 
came to pass at the seventh time when the priests 
blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the 
people. Shout; for the Lord hath given you the 
city.'' 

Jehovah Overthrows Jericho,^ — ''And it came to 
pass, when the people heard the sound of the 
trumpet, and the people shouted with a great 
shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the 
people went up into the city, every man straight 
before him, and they took the city'' (Joshua 
6: 20). 

Rahah and Her Family Spared, — When the 
young men, sent by Joshua to spy out the land, 
were in dire peril, Rahab with rare faith and 



* Awhile ago the writer heard on an ocean vessel an attack 
on the miracles of Scripture by a resident of Jerusalem, in 
the course of which the speaker declared that no wall had 
been found in the vicinity of modern Jericho, and that the 
wall which "fell down flat" was no more than a fragile 
structure of mud or clay, which, of course, tumbled down 
when the people shouted and the trumpets sounded. During 
the absence of this same man from Palestine, the German 
Exploration Society had unearthed near the modern Jericho 
a wall of immense stones, and when our party visited the 
Plains of Jericho we were permitted to see the wall whose 
huge stones were probably hurled down by Jehovah in the 
presence of Joshua and his hosts. And this is only one of 
almost numberless instances in which the spade has opened 
up corroborative evidence of the truthfulness of Holy Scrip- 
ture. 



102 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

ready tact saved their lives, at the same time ex- 
acting a promise that when the city should be 
overthrown, she and her family would be spared. 
The sign agreed upon was that a scarlet cord 
should be hung from the window of her home, 
which was situated on the wall of the city. True 
to the oath which they took in the hour of peril, 
the young men sought out Rahab and spared her 
with her family and possessions. It is signiricant 
that this heathen woman of questionable char- 
acter should exercise such clear faith, and it is 
worthy of note that her name appears in the line- 
age of the Lord Jesus. (Matthew 1:5.) 

Curse upon the Rehuilder of Jericho. — Because 
the sins of Jericho were especially grievous, the 
doom which fell upon the city was peculiarly 
severe. The moral status of its inhabitants may 
be seen in the fact that the best individual in the 
city was a woman who drove a shameful trade. 
Because of its deep pollution, and as serving to 
overawe the inhabitants of the land, Jericho was 
utterly destroyed, its people being put to the 
sword and its wealth burned with fire. As a per- 
petual memorial of the divine wrath against the 
sins of Jericho, and possibly to prevent Jericho 
from becoming the capital of the nation, Joshua 
pronounced a solemn curse upon the man who 
should rebuild the city. Through the ages the 
site of the city remained a desolate heap, until 
400 years later Hiel, a citizen of Bethel, went 
down and rebuilt the city. The curse of Joshua 
had literal fulfillment in that this man "laid the 



The Conquest of Canaan. X03 

foundations in the death of his first-born and set 
up the gates in the death of his youngest son" 
(i Kings i6: 34). 

The Taking of Ai. 

Defeat Before Ai. — The inspiration of the 
Scriptures and the nobiUty of its writers find 
emphasis in the frankness and fullness with 
which they record defeat and failure. In the 
midst of this glorious record of faith and achieve- 
ment, we come upon a chapter which tells of sin 
and reverse. ''But the children of Israel com- 
mitted a trespass in the accursed thing : for 
Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the 
son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the 
accursed thing: and the anger of the Lord was 
kindled against the children of Israel" (Joshua 

7:1). 

Joshua and all Israel, unaware of this sin, and 
possibly over-confident by reason of the signal 
overthrow of Jericho, sent a small force of 3,000 
men against Ai. These men were driven before 
the men of Ai and chased down the mountain 
sides, thirty-six of their number being slain. 
"And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the eartli 
upon his face before the ark of the Lord until 
eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust 
upon their heads" (Joshua 7:6). 

Achan is Stoned. — There are times when ac- 
tion, rather than prayer, is demanded. ''And the 
Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore 



lQ4 Old Testament studies. 

liest thou thus upon thy face?'' It was made 
clear that because Israel had sinned the people 
could not stand before their enemies. When the 
tribes were brought before the Lord, the tribe of 
Judah was taken, then the family of the Zarhites ; 
of this family the house of Zabdi was taken ; from 
this household Achan was taken, and thus the 
guilty man was found. ''And Achan answered 
Joshua, and said. Indeed I have sinned against 
the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have 
I done : When I saw among the spoils a goodly 
Babylonish garment, and two lumdred shekels 
of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels 
weight, then I coveted them, and took them ; and, 
behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of 
my tent, and the silver under if' (Joshua 7: 
20, 21). Because the sin was inexcusably griev- 
ous, involving in its consequences all Israel, the 
punishment was severe. ''And Joshua said. Why 
hast thou troubled us? The Lord shall trouble 
thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with 
stones, and burned them with fire, after they had 
stoned them with stones" (Joshua 7: 25). 

Ai is Captured, — When the sin which brought 
failure was thus put aside, Joshua assembled the 
armed force of Israel and led against Ai. Resort- 
ing to strategy, he succeeded in subduing and 
destroying the city. 

This incident of the capture of Ai may be 
summed up in four significant words, sin, defeat, 
cleansing, victory. 



The Conquest of Canaan. ]^05 

A Journey to Shechem. 

The Law is Ratified. — Joshua having struck 
terror to the inhabitants of Canaan by the cross- 
ing of the Jordan and the decisive campaigns 
against Jericho and Ai, now boldly marches, ap- 
parently with all Israel, direct to the center of 
the land to worship Jehovah in a great national 
convocation. At Shechem, between Mounts Ebal 
and Gerizim, he builds an altar and, in the midst 
of the surrounding people on whom a terror from 
the Lord has fallen, he offers sacrifices to the God 
of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. Moses 
(Deuteronomy 2y) had given specific command 
concerning this significant occasion, and Joshua 
carries out to the letter the directions of Moses. 
It is a memorable scene, with one-half of the 
tribes on the slopes of Ebal and one-half on 
Gerizim; those on Mt. Ebal proclaiming the 
curses, and those of Mt. Gerizim chanting the 
blessings. Thus, in solemn and august assem- 
blage, Israel heard and ratified the covenant 
which bound them to be forever a people holy 
unto Jehovah. 

Joseph's Bones are Buried. — During all the 
wilderness wanderings the chosen people had 
carried with them the bones of Joseph, according 
to the oath which he exacted of the elders that 
when they should go out of Egypt they would 
carry his body with them. A short distance out 
on the plain from Mt. Ebal was the plot of 
ground which Jacob had bought for a possession. 



106 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

To this possession of Jacob the hosts of Israel 
now wended their way and here they buried the 
bones of Joseph. 

The Conquest of the Land. 

Like the intrepid soldier and skillful general, 
Joshua, having broken into the center of the land 
and divided his foes, deals first with the people 
of the southern section and then with the people 
of the northern part. But before we follow him 
in these victorious campaigns, we pause to con- 
sider an incident in which, because of presump- 
tion, Joshua and the elders of Israel appear in no 
enviable light. 

The Stratagem of the Gibeonites. — Just over 
the hills a few miles aw^ay from the camps of Is- 
rael was the city of Gibeon. Its people had heard 
of the glory and achievements of Israel, and learn- 
ing that Joshua was commissioned to destroy 
utterly the inhabitants of the land, they resolve 
to save themselves by strategy. ''And w^hen the 
inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had 
done unto Jericho and to Ai, they did work wilily, 
and went and made as if they had been ambassa- 
dors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and 
wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up; and 
old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old 
garments upon them ; and all the bread of their 
provision was dry and mouldy. And they went 
to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto 
him, and to the men of Israel, We are come from 



The Conquest of Canaan. X07 

a far country : now therefore make ye a league 
with us'' (Joshua 9: 3-6). Taken unawares 
and faihng to inquire of God, Joshua and the 
elders of Israel entered into a league with these 
Gibeonites and covenanted to be their allies. 
When presently they discovered the deception, in 
view of their oath, they spared the Gibeonites, 
though as a penalty for their treachery they re- 
duced them to servitude. 

Joshua's Southern Campaign. — On learning of 
the defection to Israel of the Gibeonites, their 
former confederates assembled for an attack upon 
the city of Gibeon. Learning of the peril of his 
new allies, Joshua led the armies of Israel against 
his foes. ''So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he, 
and all the people of war with him, and all the 
mighty men of valour. And the Lord said unto 
Joshua, Fear them not : for I have delivered them 
into thine hand; there shall not a man of them 
stand before thee" (Joshua 10: 7, 8). It was 
during this famous battle of Beth-horon that 
''the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until 
the people had avenged themselves upon their 
enemies.'' Thus were the armies of Israel vic- 
torious in all the southern section of the land. 

Joshua's Northern Campaign. — When the 
kings and chiefs farther north learned of these 
conquests of Joshua in the south, they gathered 
their forces and resolved to fight for their lives. 
"And when all these kings were met together, 
they came and pitched together at the waters of 
Merom, to fight against Israel. And the Lord 



108 ^^^ Testament Studies, 

said unto Joshua, Be not afraid because of them : 
for tomorrow about this time will I deliver them 
up all slain before Israel : thou shalt hough their 
horses, and burn their chariots with fire" 
(Joshua II : 5, 6). Falling upon them by night, 
Joshua utterly routed these allied kings, and was 
thus in virtual possession of the whole land. 
While much was accomplished in these two cam- 
paigns, south and north, it was only after a con- 
flict lasting for seven years that the land was 
subdued, and even then there were strongholds 
and some large sections which remained in the 
hands of the original inhabitants. 

Allotment of the Land, — When the land was 
in some measure subdued, Joshua assembled the 
hosts of Israel before the ark in Shiloh, where 
lots were cast before the Lord for a division of 
the land among the tribes. Joseph, receiving the 
double portion of the first-born, became through 
his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, the father 
of two tribes. The tribe of Levi received no 
special landed inheritance. 

The tribes were located as follows : 

East of the Jordan: 
Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. 

West of the Jordan : 

In the south, Simeon, Judah, Benjamin, and 
Dan; 

In the center, Ephraim and Manasseh ; 

In the north, Issachar, Zebulun, Asher, and 
Naphtali. 



The Conquest of Canaan. ^09 

Joshua's Farewell. 

Joshua, now an old man and nearing the close 
of an honorable career, wishing to bind Israel 
anew to God, assembled the people in a mighty 
convocation at Shechem, the scene of so many 
memorable and historic events. Here he deliv- 
ered a farewell address which for patriotic fervor 
and devout pleading deserves to rank w^ith the 
addresses of Moses on the plains of Moab. ''Now 
therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sin- 
cerity and in truth ; and put away the gods which 
your fathers served on the other side of the flood, 
and in Egypt ; and serve ye the Lord. And if it 
seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose ye 
this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods 
which your fathers served that were on the other 
side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, 
in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my 
house, we will serve the Lord. And the people 
answered and said, God forbid that we should 
forsake the Lord, to serve other gods" (Joshua 
24: 14-16). 

The character and influence of Joshua are re- 
flected in this word which seems to have been 
added to the book by a later hand : ''And Israel 
served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all 
the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and 
which had known all the works of the Lord that 
he had done for Israer' (Joshua 24: 31). 



110 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

Joshua's Life in Outline. 

(i) Captain of the armies of Israel in battle 
with the Amalekites on the journey to Mt. Sinai. 
(Exodus 17: 9.) 

(2) Minister to Moses, and his companion in 
the holy mount. (Exodus 32: 17.) 

(3) One of the spies who went up through 
Canaan; along with Caleb brought back a good 
report. (Numbers 13: 18.) 

(4) Succeeded Moses and led over Jordan. 
(Numbers 2'/: 18; Joshua 1-3.) 

(5) Destroyed Jericho and Ai, and ratified the 
law at Shechem. (Joshua 6-8.) 

(6) Conquered Canaan and allotted the land. 

(7) In the presence of a great convocation, de- 
livered a farewell address. (Joshua 24.) 

(8) Wrote the book which bears his name. 



The Conquest of Canaan. '[W 

QUESTIONS. 

Name the chief events in Old Testament history down 
to the Conquest. 

Suggest some incidents which indicate the affec- 
tion of the chosen people for the land of Canaan. 

What w^as the burden of God's charge to Joshua? 

What report did the two spies sent by Joshua 
bring back? 

Show how the faith of Israel was challenged in 

the command to cross the Jordan. 
Tell of the first Passover in Canaan and suggest a 

reason why the feast was not observed in the 

desert. 
How were the people fed and clothed during the 

wilderness wandering? 

Where did Joshua get instructions concerning the cam- 
paign against Jericho? 
Describe that campaign. 
Why were Rahab and her family spared? 
Why was a curse pronounced on the rebuilder of 
Jericho? Was that curse fulfilled? 

Describe the capture of Ai. 

Tell of the stoning of Achan. 
Why was the journey made to Shechem at this time? 

Where were Joseph's bones buried? 
What was the strategy of the Gibeonites? 

Tell of Joshua's southern campaign. 

Describe briefly his northern campaign. 
Tell of Joshua's farewell to Israel. 



OUTLINES FOR CHAPTER VII. 



THE JUDGES. 

Scripture Record — Judges and Ruth. 

Selections for Reading and Study — Judges 1, 4-8, 
11, 14-16 ; Ruth 1^. 

Time — From Death of Joshua to Birth of Samuel, 
1434 to 1171 B.C. 



The Time of the Judges. 

Rulers of the Time. 
Religious Conditions. 
Age of Personal Exploits. 
A Transition Time. 
The Book of Judges. 

Leading Judges. 

Othniel Defeats the Mesopotamians ( Judges 3 : 

7-11). 
Ehud Delivers from Moab (Judges 3: 12-30). 
Shamgar Fights the Philistines (Judges 3: 31). 
Deborah and Barak Defeat the Canaanites (Judges 

4, 5). 
Gideon Saves from the Midianites ( Judges 6 : 1 — 

8: 32). 
Jephthah Defeats the Ammonites ( Judges 10 : 6 — 

12: 7). 
Samson Fights the Philistines (Judges 13-16). 
Eli, the Priest- Judge (1 Samuel 1-3). 
Samuel, the Last of the Judges (1 Samuel 1-7). 

Ruth the Moabitess (Ruth 1-4). 



(112) 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE JUDGES. 



Following the conquest and settlement in 
Canaan, we come upon a long period of perhaps 
350 years which, from the rulers of the time, we 
call the period of the Judges. Because there 
were no hereditary rulers and no central stable 
government, it is difficult to describe this period. 

The Time of the Judges. 

Rulers of the Time. — The phrase '']vidgts'' 
does not adequately describe the rulers. They 
were rather military chieftains, men of prowess 
and leadership, who in some crisis threw ofif the 
yoke of foreign oppression and by general con- 
sent of the people became rulers or Judges. Be- 
cause God assumed to exercise direct rule over 
his people, raising up from time to time deliv- 
erers of his own choosing, this period has been 
called the Theocracy^ which means God-ruled, 
and signifies a government in which God exer- 
cised direct control. In reality, the later days 
of the monarchy were designed to be no less a 
theocracy, inasmuch as even the kings were ex- 
pected to rule not in their own right or accord- 
ing to their own will, but in God's stead and as 
God's representatives. 

8 (113) 



114 



Old Testament Studies. 



Religious Conditions. — During this time both 
reHgion and civiHzation were at low ebb, and 
hence the period has come to be known as the 
Dark Ages of Israel's history. There were no 



THE TRIBES 

UNDER THE 

JUDGES 




great revivals of religion ; the law and the sacred 
feasts were sadly neglected ; no books of Scrip- 
ture were produced and scarcely any miracles 
were wrought. Israel was again and again de- 
feated and sorely oppressed by her enemies. The 
tabernacle w^ith the sacred ark located at Shiloh 



The Judges. 115 

constituted a central rallying point, but religion 
was for the most part at low ebb. 

The writer of the book of Judges carries a kind 
of oft-recurring formula, describing conditions 
which found frequent repetition, as follows : ( i ) 
The children of Israel fall into sin and idolatry, 
(2) God gives them into the hands of their ene- 
mies to be oppressed, (3) they cry unto the Lord, 
(4) the Lord raises up a deliverer to throw off 
the hated yoke. The history is evidently written 
from the religious viewpoint and is designed to 
teach successive generations that "righteousness 
exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any 
people.'' 

The frequent religious lapses came from the 
corrupting influences of the native peoples with 
whom the Israelites mingled and intermarried. 
The commission to Joshua was to destroy utterly 
the inhabitants of the land for the evident reason 
that if any remained they would be a corrupting 
influence among the chosen people. Joshua failed 
to execute this commission and left in the land 
considerable numbers of the original population. 
These were for hundreds of years a snare to Is- 
rael, until David finally destroyed the Philistine 
power and uprooted the Canaanites. 

Age of Personal Exploits. — During the time of 
the Judges there were no kings or other hereditary 
rulers ; there w^as no standing army, as there was 
no stable government. In the time of the Exodus 
and the Conquest the twelve tribes were held to- 
gether by the very conditions under which they 



11Q Old Testament Studies. 

lived and by the strong influence of Moses and 
Joshua. Now that they are settled in Canaan, 
each tribe governed itself, and ''every man did 
that which was right in his own eyes/' 

The rude times and the prevailing methods of 
warfare called for physical prowess and personal 
heroism. By valiant exploits and deeds of daring 
some man would gain the attention and confidence 
of the people and would come to be recognized 
and accepted as Judge, usually over a few tribes 
or a certain section of the land. Gideon and 
Samuel were the only Judges who ruled over all 
the twelve tribes. 

A Transition Time. — During this long period 
the soil of the national life was lying fallow and 
the way was preparing for the great days to fol- 
low. This period lies as a valley between the 
mountain-peak epochs which precede and follow, 
the Conquest and the Kingdom. Immediately be- 
fore, come the wonderful days of Moses and 
Joshua, while the glorious days of David and 
Solomon come after, thus enclosing this period 
in which Israel appears to be marking time and 
making little headway. 

The Book of Judges. — It has been customary 
to attribute this book to Samuel. There are 
touches which indicate contemporary authorship 
and it seems probable that records were made or 
that traditions were carefully preserved, which 
were later, possibly by the hand of Samuel, put 
together in permanent form in a way to impress 
certain great truths. "The Book of Judges, 



The Judges. \YJ 

therefore, is not simply a record of historical 
events, but a record plus din interpretation/' 

The book falls into three well-defined divi- 
sions : ( I ) An introduction setting forth condi- 
tions in Palestine at the beginning of this period 
(chapters i, 2). (2) The main body of the book, 
describing the Judges (chapters 3-16). (3) Con- 
cluding chapters relating the migration of the 
Danites and the war with Benjamin (chapters 
17-21). This book sets forth the careers of all 
of the Judges except Eli and Samuel, whose lives 
are recorded in i Samuel 1-12. 

The Leading Judges. 

While the names of fifteen Judges are pre- 
served to us, only a few of these have extended 
mention. 

Othniel Defeats the Mesopotamians, — During 
the war of the Conquest, Othniel, the younger 
brother, or possibly the nephew, of Caleb, had 
signalized himself by extraordinary valor in tak- 
ing the city of Debir, and for this daring exploit 
was given the hand of Achsah, daughter of Caleb, 
in marriage. When Joshua was dead and the 
people had drifted into idolatry, invading hosts 
from far-away Mesopotamia oppressed Israel for 
eight years. Othniel rallied his discouraged peo- 
ple, defeated and drove out the invaders, after 
which the land had rest for a period of eighty 
years. 

Ehud Delivers from Moah, — ^At length the chil- 
dren of Israel drifted again into idolatry, and as 



1X8 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

a punishment Jehovah permitted the Moabites on 
the east and southeast to oppress them. The king 
of Moab had established his capital in the valley 
of the Jordan. When Ehud went down to bear 
the annual tribute of Israel to Eglon, he obtained 
a secret conference with the king, and drawing 
a dagger from his flowing garments he plunged 
it into the body of the king. Rushing up the 
steep cliffs back of Gilgal, he called the men of 
Israel to war and defeated Moab, thus bringing 
to the land another period of rest which is said 
to have lasted eighty years. 

Shamgar Fights the Philistines. — When the 
Philistines, Israel's inveterate foes, made a sud- 
den foray, they found Shamgar plowing in the 
field. Having no other weapon at hand, he took 
the stout ox-goad which he carried and with it 
slew 600 men of the Philistines. By reason of 
this deliverance he became a Judge in Israel. 

Deborah and Barak Defeat the Canaanites. — 
Deborah, with whom we associate the name of 
Barak, who at her instigation led the armies of 
Israel against the Canaanites, was the only 
woman who judged Israel. She is worthy to be 
reckoned as one of the greatest and most influ- 
ential of the Judges, being more a prophetess, a 
spokesman for God, than a Judge. Having her 
home under a well-known palm-tree in the hills 
of Ephraim, she received the people from every 
part of the land as they came to inquire of the 
Lord and to be instructed in his ways. 



The Judges. \\<Q 

When Israel had long groaned beneath the op- 
pression of Jabin, king of the Canaanites, De- 
borah roused Barak to throw off the hated yoke. 
So disheartened was Barak, he would consent to 
go out to battle only on condition that Deborah 
would go with him. In the plain of Esdraelon the 
battle was fought and Israel, aided by a heavy 
storm which was regarded as a special divine 
interposition, won a signal victory, breaking the 
power of the Canaanites and giving the land a 
forty years' rest. 

Gideon Saves from the Midianites. — Gideon, 
also known as Jerubbaal, ranks among the most 
picturesque and interesting of all the Judges. Our 
first introduction to him reveals a full-orbed man 
and indicates that he had already wrought deeds 
of valor. 

(i) The Call of Gideon. For seven years the 
Midianites had come from beyond the Jordan in 
such numbers that they were likened to locusts, 
and had utterly devastated the land, driving the 
handful of people back into the mountain fast- 
nesses. Hidden away among the hills of Manas- 
seh, Gideon was threshing wheat with a flail, 
when the angel of Jehovah suddenly appeared, 
saying: ''The Lord is with thee, thou mighty 
man of valor.'' In the midst of his lowly tasks 
the salutation might almost appear to be irony, 
but presently the Lord commissioned him to de- 
liver Israel : ''Go in this thy might, and thou shalt 
save Israel from the hand of the Midianites.'' 
In order to further reassure Gideon and prepare 



]^20 ^^^ Testament Studies, 

him for the heroic service to which he was called, 
a special sign was vouchsafed to him. He brought 
an offering to the Lord, a kid and some unleav- 
ened cakes. These the angel touched with his 
staff and a fire rose out of the rock and consumed 
them. 

Thus commissioned and encouraged, Gideon 
did not delay to enter upon his new duties. His 
first move was to destroy the idolatry which had 
crept into his father's home. He threw down the 
altar of Baal and slew the bullock which was re- 
served for sacrifice to that god. When it was 
discovered that Gideon had done this, Joash his 
father saved his life by the reasonable challenge, 
''Let Baal plead ;'' that is, if Baal is really a god, 
let him vindicate himself. 

(2) Defeats the Midianites. The opportunity 
soon arose for Gideon to fulfill the high mission 
to which he was called, the Midianites having en- 
camped in great numbers in the plains of Esdrae- 
lon and spread terror throughout Israel. 
"Clothed'' with the spirit of God, Gideon sounded 
a trumpet and through messengers summoned the 
men of Israel to assemble against the invaders. 
The fact that only 32,000 men rallied to Gideon 
at Mt. Gilead indicates the straits to which Israel 
was reduced. 

But God would reserve to himself the glory of 
this victory, and hence he would reduce this force, 
lest the warriors of Israel vaunt themselves and 
declare that by their own might they have van- 
quished their foes. Two methods were used to 



The Judges. 121 

reduce the numbers. According to the usual cus- 
tom, opportunity was given for all who were faint 
of heart to return to their homes. The fact that 
22,000 availed themselves of this privilege and 
confessed them.selves afraid, shows at once the 
discouragement of Israel and the strength of the 
invading host. But the number was yet too large. 
Gideon was commanded to lead the remaining 
10,000 across the spring Harod. Of this number 
300 lifted the water to their mouths in their 
hands, ''lapped like dogs,'' thus evincing their 
eagerness for battle and their indifference to their 
own comfort. This company of 300 God was to 
use, and through them vengeance was to be 
wreaked upon the enemies of God's people. 

The plan of campaign was admirably designed 
to throw into panic and confusion such an irregu- 
lar and loosely organized multitude as was scat- 
tered over the valley. In three companies of 100 
each, Gideon's band surrounds the enemy on three 
sides in the darkness of the night. Each man has 
a lamp concealed in a pitcher. At a given signal 
the pitchers are broken and three hundred lights 
gleam forth, while at the same time the men raise 
a mighty shout, 'The sword of the Lord and of 
Gideon." Thus awakened in the night, sur- 
rounded by lines of flashing lights and startled 
by the shout of Gideon's men, the undisciplined 
hordes fly in terror and fall by thousands at the 
hands of the men of Israel. 

(3) Refuses to he King. In token of their grati- 
tude to Gideon for this signal overthrow of their 



122 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

national foes, the leaders of the people assemble 
and ask Gideon to become their king. This ap- 
pears to be the first trace of that desire for a king 
and a royal court which later, in Samuel's day, 
resulted in the setting up of a monarchy and the 
making of Saul king in Israel. But Gideon mag- 
nanimously puts away the proffered honor : "I 
will not rule over you : the Lord shall rule over 
you.'' While Gideon declined to be the actual 
king, he yet ruled with royal pomp, setting up his 
numerous sons to rule over various cities. As in 
the case of Saul and some other Old Testament 
heroes, Gideon hardly sustained in maturer and 
declining years the zeal for Jehovah which 
marked his opening career. 

Abimelechj the son of Gideon, called the 
'^Bramble King,'' from the significant parable of 
Jotham, having slain all of his brothers save 
Jotham, ruled Israel three years, maintaining the 
semblance of a court in Shechem. 

After Abimelech arose Tola, who judged Is- 
rael 23 years, while after him came Jair, who 
with his sons ruled 22 years. 

Jephthah Defeats the Ammonites. 

Jephthah, a rough freebooter in the mountains 
east of the Jordan, was besought by the Hebrew^s 
to become their leader against the people of Am- 
mon, who had crossed the Jordan and were op- 
pressing the people. Jephthah acceded to their 
plea on condition that if victory resulted he should 



The Judges. 123 

rule over them. Before going to battle he ap- 
pealed to the men of Ammon in a spirit of justice 
to retire from the lands of Israel. When this plea 
proved unavailing, he made a vow to Jehovah 
that, if he would give him victory, whatsoever 
came first out of his house to greet him on his 
return should be offered in sacrifice. 

Returning, flushed with victory, he was first 
greeted by his only daughter. ''And it came to 
pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, 
and said, Alas my daughter ! thou hast brought 
me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble 
me ; for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, 
and I can not go back'' (Judges ii : 35). 

In Leviticus 2^ : 1-8, we find instructions for 
redeeming such as had been consecrated by a 
vow, but there can be little reason to suppose that 
Jephthah knew of such provision. We need make 
no apology for such men as Jephthah and Sam- 
son and other similar characters among the 
Judges. It is sufficient to say that they were chil- 
dren of the rude times in which they lived. The 
work to which they were called was rough work 
which required rugged men. Jehovah conde- 
scended to the times and used the instruments 
which yielded themselves for his purposes. 

After Jephthah three Judges, Ihsan^ Elon and 
Abdon, are mentioned, though we have no de- 
tailed account of any one of them. 



124 ^^^ Testament Studies, 

Samson Fights tpie Philistines. 

A physical giant, but a moral weakling, Sam- 
son, the last of the Judges to be thus officially 
designated, is a strange and contradictory char- 
acter. Raised up in the days when the PhiHs- 
tines oppressed the Israelites, he was endowed 
with superhuman strength, and by feats of 
physical prowess wrought deliverance for his 
people. ''His tearing a young lion to pieces; 
his killing thirty men of Ashkelon; his catch- 
ing three hundred foxes, and setting fire to the 
corn of the Philistines; his slaying a thousand 
men at En-hakkore with the jawbone of an ass; 
his carrying the gates of Gaza up to a hill near 
Hebron; and after he had been treacherously 
taken and his eyes put out, his destruction both 
of himself and of the lords of the Philistines 
by pulling down the pillars that supported the 
house, were the greatest feats of bodily strength 
ever known'' (Blaikie). 

Eli, the Priest-Judge. 

Eli, who appears to have been a contemporary 
of Samson, was high priest and in this capacity, 
rather than as warrior or deliverer, he came to be 
the leader and ruler of the Hebrews. A pious 
and patriotic man, his chief fault lay in such weak 
indulgence of his sons as resulted in their becom- 
ing profligates. After a battle between the He- 
brews and their ancient enemies, the Philistines, 
on reception of the news that his sons, Hophni 



The Judges, 125 

and Phineas, were slain and that the ark of the 
Lord was taken, Eli, an old man and blind, fell 
over backward and his neck was broken. 

Samuel, the Last of the Judges. — Samuel con- 
tributed much by his character and his states- 
manship to the glories of the period which fol- 
lowed. He will receive further notice in the next 
chapter as he is closely associated for many years 
with Saul and David, the first kings of Israel. 

Ruth, the Moabitess. 

The beautiful story of Ruth falls ''in the days 
when the Judges ruled.'' A severe drought drove 
Elimelech and Naomi with their two sons from 
their home in Bethlehem across the Jordan to the 
land of Moab. Here their sons, Mahlon and 
Chilion, married Ruth and Orpah, women of 
Moab. Elimelech and the two sons sickened and 
died, leaving the women in widowhood. Naomi 
turned in her loneliness to her native land and 
doubtless in her sorrow her heart turned anew 
toward Jehovah. Kissing her daughters-in-law, 
she bade them return to their homes and the 
houses of their fathers. Orpah lifted up her 
voice and wept, but returned again to her people. 
Ruth, who seems to have been converted to the 
religion of the true God, said to Naomi : ''En- 
treat me not to leave thee, or to return from fol- 
lowing after thee : for whither thou goest, I w^ill 
go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy 
people shall be my people, and thy God my God'' 
(Ruth i: i6). 



126 Old Testament Studies. 

Coming to Bethlehem, Ruth goes to glean in 
the harvest field of Boaz and is later married to 
that worthy citizen. Boaz and Ruth, as the 
grandparents of Jesse, the father of David, stand 
in the line of our Lord's ancestry. 



QUESTIONS. 

What length of time is covered by the period of the 
Judges ? 
Describe the rulers of the time. 
What as to the religious conditions? 
Why was this a time of personal exploits? 
What as to the authorship and nature of the Book 
of Judges? 

How many judges were there? 

From what people did Othniel deliver? 

Tell of Ehud's deliverance from the Moabites. 

What feat distinguished Shamgar? 

Tell of the deliverance under Deborah and Barak. 

Give in outline the chief events in the life of 
Gideon. 

Tell of Jephthah's campaign against the Ammon- 
ites. 

Recount some of the adventures of Samson. 

Tell something of Eli. 
Give the essential features of the story of Ruth. 



OUTLINES FOR CHAPTER VIII. 
\ 

THE RISE OF THE KINGDOM : 
SAMUEL AND SAUL. 

Scripture Record — 1 Samuel, chapters 1-31. 
Selections for Reading and Study — 1 Samuel 1-3, 

10-15, 31. 
Time — From the Birth of Samuel to Death of Saul, 

1171 to 1063 B.C. 



Samuel, the Last of the Judges (1 Samuel 1-7). 

The Birth of Samuel. 
Deliverance through Prayer. 
Schools of the Prophets. 
Israel Desires a King — 

(1) Samuel's Sons had Failed. 

(2) The Nations round about Threatened Is- 

rael. 

(3) National Pride. 
The Judgeship of Samuel. 
Leading Facts Concerning Samuel. 

Saul, the First King of Israel (1 Samuel 8-14). 

Early Military Achievements — 

(1) Against the Ammonites. 

(2) Against the Philistines. 

(3) Against the Amalekites. 
Later Period of Rebellion and Decline. 
Saul's Last Battle. 

The Nature of the Kingdom. 
The Failure of Saul. 



(127) 



CHAPTER VIII. 



THE RISE OF THE KINGDOM ; 
SAMUEL AND SAUL. 



Samuel, the Last of the Judges. 

Samuel stands in the twilight between the dark 
days of the Judges and the brighter days of the 
kingdom. Abraham founded the Hebrew race; 
Joseph deHvered the race from famine; Moses 
moulded the race into a nation with a system of 
laws and religion ; Joshua gave the race a home ; 
it now remained for Samuel to organize a kingly 
government and usher in the golden era of Is- 
rael's history. By reason of his own personal 
character and because of the unique place he oc- 
cupies in the history of the chosen people, Samuel 
looms large on the horizon, taking rank with 
Abraham, Moses, and David among the pre- 
eminent men of Old Testament times. 

The Birth of Samuel. — The name of Samuel, 
"asked of Jehovah,'' reminds us of the beautiful 
story of his birth and childhood. Receiving the 
child as a gift desired of God, his mother Han- 
nah gave him to God. Bringing him to the tab- 
ernacle in Shiloh, and pouring forth her joyful 
praise in a hymn of exceptional beauty, she pre- 
sented the child to the Lord and left him with 
the aged Eli to grow up in the service, and even 
(128) 



Rise of the Kingdom: Samuel and Saul. 129 

in the sacred precincts, of the house of God. Be- 
cause of the wickedness of those days, God 
granted "no open vision,'' but to the child Samuel 
God spoke in audible voice, establishing thus early 
an intimate relationship with his servant and de- 
nouncing through him the doom which should 
shortly fall on the house of Eli for the sins of 
his wicked sons. 

Deliverance throitgh Prayer. — Samuel does not 
appear again on the scene until after many years, 
when the Hebrews have come upon a sad crisis 
in their history. They have gone away from Je- 
hovah into the grossest idolatry, and in conse- 
quence have been delivered for chastisement into 
the hands of their ancient enemies, the Philistines. 
In this dark hour Samuel came forward, assem- 
bled all Israel at Mizpah, and exhorted them to 
turn from their idolatries to the God of their 
fathers. While the people were thus gathered 
for worship, the Philistines, doubtless supposing 
that they had gathered for war, drew near and 
threatened to give battle. Samuel betook himself 
to prayer, and in response to the cry of his ser- 
vant God sent a terrible thunder-storm, and the 
Philistines, seized with panic, fled before the pur- 
suing Israelites. "Othniel delivered the people 
by his spear, Ehud by his dagger, Shamgar by 
his ox-goad, Gideon by his sword, and Samson 
by the jawbone of an ass; but Samuel's weapon 
was prayer." 

Schools of the Prophets. — While Samuel is best 
known as the founder of the kingdom and the 



130 ^^^ Testament Studies, 

maker of kings, he rendered also a far-reaching 
service as a prophet and as the founder of the 
schools of prophecy. At Gilgal, at Bethel, at 
Mizpah, and at Ramah, he established schools 
where instruction was given to groups of young 
prophets. We cannot make out clearly the nature 
of these schools, though it seems probable that 
they made contribution to the quickened spiritual 
life and the enlarged intelligence which marked 
the days of Samuel and David. 

There had been prophets before Samuel, but it 
remained for Samuel to give a mighty impetus 
to prophecy by organizing these schools for 
young men. From this time prophecy and the 
prophets hold a distinct and important place in 
the national life. 

Israel Desires a King. — Since the days of 
Joshua the tribes had lived a pastoral and agri- 
cultural life. The law of Moses and the annual 
assemblages before the tabernacle at Shiloh had 
served to hold the people together, but there had 
been no national bond and no strong central gov- 
ernment. The revival and the enlargement of 
national consciousness which came under the wise 
reign of Samuel naturally led the people to wish 
for a stable government with a larger measure 
of national unity. This desire led to the request 
of Samuel that he should give them a king. This 
desire for a king is not difficult to account for in 
the light of the following facts : 

(i) Samuel's sons had failed. The thinking 
of the people in favor of a kingdom was doubtless 



Rise of the Kingdom: Samuel and Saul. 131 

crystalized by the signal failure of the sons of 
Samuel, who would in the natural course of 
events be expected to succeed the great leader. 
These sons, Joel and Abiah, had been entrusted 
with some responsibility of government in the 
southern part of the land, but by licentiousness 
and bribe-taking had proved themselves utterly 
unworthy of high responsibility ( i Samuel 8:3). 
''He who, when a child, had denounced the ter- 
rible doom on Eli for the wickedness of his sons, 
lived to see his own sons turning aside after lucre, 
exacting excessive usury, and perverting judg- 
ment." 

(2) The nations round about threatened Is- 
rael. Another circumstance which contributed to 
the desire for a strong central government was 
the rise of threatening powers on various sides 
which caused alarm among the Hebrews. The 
Philistines on the southwest and the Ammonites 
on the east, ambitious and aggressive people, had 
made incursions into the land and threatened fur- 
ther depredations. The waning of Samuel's 
power, with the prospect of revolution and pos- 
sible anarchy under his sons, warned the leaders 
of the Hebrews that in order to maintain them- 
selves against the growing power of their ene- 
mies, they must have a strong government headed 
by a leader of recognized authority. 

(3) National pride. When the elders came to 
Samuel with their request for a king they de- 
sired that a king might rule over them 'like the 
nations round about'' (i Samuel 8: 5). They 



3^32 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

were moved by the desire to be like their heathen 
neighbors ; they would have a king with all of a 
king's pomp and glory ; they would have a royal 
court, a standing army, and would take their place 
among the nations of the world. Had not Moses, 
anticipating the time when they should have a 
king, left instructions according to which the king 
should rule, a kind of constitution for the king- 
dom? (Deuteronomy 17: 14-20.) 

The folly and sin of the people in desiring a 
king to rule over them lay in the spirit of pride 
and the forgetfulness of Jehovah which marked 
their request. Samuel, grieved for the request 
and knowing well the perils which lay along the 
path which the people had chosen for themselves, 
hastened to lay the whole matter before God. He 
received instruction to make solemn protest and 
to utter solemn warning concerning the king, who 
should reign over them, and the manner of his 
rule, but he was directed to accede to the request 
of the people and anoint a king to rule over them. 

The Judgeship of Samuel. — Samuel and Gid- 
eon were the only judges who ruled over all the 
twelve tribes of Israel. By his wise and strong 
administration of the affairs of government, Sam- 
uel cemented the bonds which bound the people 
together and inaugurated an era of peace and 
great prosperity. He was the greatest of the 
judges and ranks among the noblest of Israel's 
mighty men. 

Samuel's farewell to the men of Israel, like the 
farewell of Moses and like that of Joshua, is full 



Rise of the Kingdom: Samuel and Saul, 1SS 

of noble and inspiring sentiment : ''Here I am : 
witness against me before the Lord, and before 
his anointed : whose ox have I taken ? or whom 
have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of 
whose hand have I taken any bribe to bhnd mine 
eyes therewith ? and I will restore' it you. And 
they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor op- 
pressed us, neither hast thou taken aught of any 
man's hand" (i Samuel 12: 3, 4). 

Leading Facts Concerning Samuel. 

(i) The child Samuel was given in answer to 
prayer. 

(2) Hannah, the mother of Samuel, is gen- 
erally regarded as a model mother. 

(3) Samuel was preeminent in intercessory 
prayer. 

(4) Samuel anointed Saul king over Israel. 

(5) Samuel anointed David to rule in the place 
of Saul. 

(6) In any list of the great Old Testament 
characters Samuel must have a place. If the list 
were limited to four, perhaps these would be 
usually named : Abraham, Moses, Samuel, David. 

Saul, the First King of Israel. 

There is not in all history a finer picture of self- 
effacing patriotism and ready obedience to the 
divine will than that which is seen when the aged 
Samuel renounced the leadership of the nation 
and anointed the youthful Saul to reign in his 



134 ^^^ Testament Studies, 

stead. Likewise, Saul, in those early days, 
charms us with his modesty and his bravery. 
After Samuel had crowned him and given him 
high visions of the career opening to him, Saul 
returned to his daily toil and gave himself to his 
usual tasks. Later Samuel assembled all Israel 
in a mighty convocation at Mizpah, and Saul was 
proclaimed king. 

Saul's reign falls into two somewhat clearly 
marked periods : ( i ) An earlier period of bril- 
liant military achievements, and (2 )a later period 
of rebellion and decline. 

Early Military A chievements. — These were 
chiefly in wars with the Ammonites on the east, 
with the Philistines on the west, and with the 
Amalekites on the south. 

(i) SauVs first conflict was with the Ammon- 
ites, These people in their home across the Jor- 
dan had long menaced the peace of Israel. They 
had now encompassed Jabesh-Gilead, a town of 
some consequence of the east of the Jordan and 
had insolently threatened its people with the loss 
of their right eyes. Securing a week's respite, 
the men of Jabesh-Gilead sent messengers to Saul 
and the people of Israel, pleading for relief. Saul, 
though already anointed king, had yet continued 
his usual duties. On coming in from the field 
with his oxen, he found the people of his village 
weeping in despair for the news which had come 
from Jabesh-Gilead. With characteristic energy, 
Saul summoned the warriors of the realm and fall- 
ing unexpectedly on the Ammonites he cut them 



Rise of the Kingdom: Samuel and Saul. I35 

to pieces, delivering his imperiled countrymen and 
making for himself a place in the hearts of the 
Hebrew people. 

It is interesting to recall that many years after- 
ward, when the bodies of Saul and his sons were 
hung in disgrace from the walls of Beth-shan, the 
men of Jabesh-Gilead, in grateful recollection of 
Saul's deliverance, made a night march and, at 
the peril of their lives, rescued the bodies of Saul 
and his sons and gave them decent burial. 

(2) Saul's next campaign was against the 
Philistines, Having gathered in considerable 
numbers, these people came boldly into the very 
heart of the land. Saul assembled an army and 
encamped over against the enemy, but while the 
armies waited, Jonathan, Saul's son, impatient 
of delay and actuated by high faith, went person- 
ally against the enemy. Aided by his armor- 
bearer, he slew twenty men and struck terror to 
the hearts of the Philistines, who fled in disorder 
before the victorious Israelites. 

(3) A third campaign was waged against the 
Amalekites on the south. These people had wan- 
tonly attacked Israel during their wilderness jour- 
ney and in consequence Jehovah had announced 
their ultimate destruction. Saul was chosen to 
fulfill this prophecy, but, having routed and pur- 
sued the Amalekites, instead of utterly destroying 
them, he foolishly spared the best of the flocks 
and herds, reserving them for himself and the 
people. Samuel met his evasions and apologies 
with stern rebuke, and again announced that the 



J36 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

kingdom should be taken from him and given to 
another more worthy than himself. 

Later Period of Rebellion and Decline. — Vic- 
torious in these early campaigns, always cour- 
ageous and energetic, Saul gave promise of a 
career of the largest usefulness. But there grew 
within him a strangely willful and perverse spirit. 
Twice already — in the matter of the sacrifice at 
Gilgal and in the case of the Amalekites — Saul 
had manifested a spirit of disobedience, and this 
root of evil grew rapidly until he came into open 
defiance toward Jehovah. 

Saul's jealously and bitterness toward David, 
a bitterness which increased in the face of clear 
indications that the favor of God rested on David, 
grew until it seemed to become insane madness. 
With the utmost fury for many years, as we shall 
see more fully in the next chapter, he pursued 
David and sought to destroy him. 

Saul's Last Battle. — Israel's ancient enemies, 
the Philistines, having recovered from the blows 
which Saul had dealt them in earlier years, 
gathered their forces and marched up into the 
very center of Saul's territory. They camped on 
the slopes of Gilboa, while the armies of Israel 
waited at Shunem, some miles away across the 
valley. Depressed with the sense of impending 
doom, Saul, under cover of night, made his way 
around Little Hermon to Endor in order to make 
inquiry of a witch as to the outcome of the battle 
which must be fought on the morrow. Receiving 
no word of encouragement, Saul returned to lead 



Rise of the Kingdom: Samuel and Saul. I37 

his forces, only to die with his sons in defeat 
and disgrace. 

The Nature of the Kingdom. — While Samuel, 
in response to the demand of the people, and in 
accordance with the direction of Jehovah, gave 
the Israelites a king and established for them a 
kingdom, this king and this kingdom were not 
to be like those of surrounding nations. God 
was still to be the supreme ruler, while the kings 
were to rule in his stead and as his representatives. 
This was made clear to Saul, and Saul's failure 
to accept this provision and act upon it was the 
basis of his rejection by Jehovah, while David's 
frank recognition of this relationship to Jehovah 
was chief among the things that made him "a 
man after God's own heart." 

The rights of the king and the rights of the 
people were carefully defined. Indeed, Moses, 
foreseeing this emergency, had carefully set forth 
the manner of the kingdom and the limitations of 
the king's rule. With statesmanlike wisdom, 
Samuel ''told the people the manner of the king- 
dom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up be- 
fore the Lord" (i Samuel 10: 25). 

The Failure of Saul. — No young man in sacred 
history started his public career with more of 
promise, or under more auspicious conditions, 
than did Saul. The powerful Samuel gave to the 
young king whom he had anointed the full weight 
of his influence. Moved by his heroic daring and 
his kinglike bearing, the people gave him royal 
support. He was modest and brave and withal 



138 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

subservient to the will of God. But with the estab- 
lishment of the kingdom in his hand, Saul de- 
veloped a strange spirit of rebellion against 
Jehovah, so that the closing years of his reign 
are marked by a perverseness and malevolence 
which seem to justify the conclusion of some 
Bible students that Saul was insane during these 
last days. 

QUESTIONS. 

Give briefly the cliief events in Old Testament history 
to the time of Samuel. 

Tell of SamueFs birth and childhood. 

Relate an incident which illustrates Samuel's re- 
liance on prayer. 

What is meant by schools of the prophets? 

Why did the people desire a king? Wherein was 
the sin of this desire? 

Into what tw^o periods does the reign of Saul fall? 

Against what nations did Saul conduct successful 
warfare? 

Tell something of Saul's period of rebellion and 
decline. 

Describe Saul's last battle. 

What was the divine purpose concerning the king- 
dom? 

Tell of the failure of Saul. 



OUTLINES FOR CHAPTER IX. 



THE KINGDOM IN ITS GLORY: 
THE REIGN OF DAVID. 

Scripture Record — 2 Samuel, 1 Chronicles, chapters 

11-29. 
Selections for Reading and Study — 2 Samuel 1-7, 

11, 12 ; 1 Kings 1. 
Time— 1063 to 1023 B.C. 



A Shepherd Lad (1 Samuel 16: 1-13). 

At the Court of Saul ( 1 Samuel 16 : 14 — 20 : 42 ) . 

A Noble Youth. 
David and Goliath. 

An Outlaw CHiEFrAiN (1 Samuel 21-30). 

Hated of Saul. 
Among the Philistines. 
The Cave of Abdullam. 
Generosity toward Saul. 

King in Hebron (2 Samuel 2-4). 

King in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5-24; 2 Chronicles 
11-20). 

Captured Jerusalem and Made It His Capital. 
Conquered His Enemies Round About. 
Organized and Developed His Kingdom. 
David's Great Sin. 

Preparation for the Building of the Temple. 
Parting Charge to Solomon. 

David and the Psalms. 

An Inspiring Career, 

(139) 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE KINGDOM IN ITS GLORY: 
THE REIGN OF DAVID. 



David is the most attractive and, after Moses, 
the greatest, character in Old Testament history. 
Admired and loved in his own day, David has, 
through all the ages, made singular appeal to the 
imagination and affection of Bible readers. 
''Shepherd, soldier, poet, king, the romantic 
friend, the chivalrous leader, the devoted father, 
he was eminent alike for his exalted piety and his 
noble patriotism.'' 

The life of David may be considered in five 
natural sections: (i) A shepherd lad, (2) at the 
court of Saul, (3) an outlaw chieftain, (4) king 
in Hebron, (5) king in Jerusalem. 

A Shepherd Lad. 

David was the son of Jesse who, in turn, was 
the grandson of Boaz and Ruth. His native place 
was Bethlehem, where his great-grandmother, 
Ruth, gleaned in the fields. The family of Jesse 
was devout and highly respected in the great tribe 
of Judah. The youngest of his sons, David kept 
the family flocks in the neighboring fields, where 
a thousand years later other "shepherds kept their 
(140) 



Kingdom in Its Glory: Reign of David. 141 

flocks by night/' Thus engaged, he developed 
the high courage, the ready resourcefulness, and 
the clear faith in Jehovah, which marked his after 
years. When a lion roared among his lambs he 
went forth and slew the lion and when, on an- 
other occasion, a bear threatened his flock, he 
gave battle and slew the bear. These exploits 
in which he recognized the help of Jehovah were 
ever afterward a source of cheer and strength to 
David. 

We have no record of the relation between this 
Bethlehem family and the great prophet Samuel, 
who lived at Ramah a few miles to the north. 
There can be no doubt that in a devout home like 
that of Jesse, the name and the presence of the 
prophet were familiar. Certain it is that the old 
prophet and the youthful David early became fast 
friends, and that the instructions and influence 
of Samuel were potent in the developing of that 
nobility of character which marked all the ma- 
ture years of David. 

At the Court of Saul. 

A Noble Youth. — When Saul was given to 
melancholy, which at times probably amounted to 
insanity, and when quest was made for a skilled 
musician to soothe the distracted king, the name 
of David was mentioned to the king : ''Then an- 
swered one of the servants, and said, Behold- 
I have seen a son of Jesse, the Beth-lehemite, 
that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant 
man, and a m.an of war, and prudent in matters, 



142 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

and a comely person, and the Lord is with him.'* 
(i Samuel i6 : i8.) A fine picture we have here : 
(i) A master musician, (2) mighty in valor, (3) 
prudent in matters, (4) a comely person, (5) Je- 
hovah is with him. Brought to the king's court, 
David behaved himself wisely, and by the charms 
of his harp and doubtless of his songs, he quieted 
the troubled spirit of the king. The record does 
not indicate how long David was thus attached 
to the court of Saul, though it is probable that 
he returned after a time to the care of his father's 
flocks. 

David and Goliath. — Saul's ancient enemies 
appear to have recovered from the defeat which 
he had inflicted upon them early in his reign and 
they now gather in force and challenge the He- 
brews to battle. In accordance with the custom 
of the day, Goliath, a formidable giant, went forth 
day after day challenging the armies of Saul to 
send forth a chosen warrior that they might fight 
each other and thus decide the issues of battle. 
The defiance and challenge of the giant struck 
terror to the hearts of the Hebrews, and no war- 
rior was found in their ranks to go forth in their 
behalf. At this time David appeared in the camps 
bringing tidings and gifts for his brothers in the 
army. In the face of taunts from his brothers 
and discouragement on the part of Saul, David 
offers to go forth and fight the giant. His word 
to the Philistine is an index to the strength and 
achievements of his whole life : "Thou comest to 
me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a 



Kingdom in Its Glory: Reign of David. X43 

shield : but I come to thee in the name of the Lord 
of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom 
thou hast defied'' (i Samuel 17: 45). With his 
trusted sling he sends a smooth stone previously 
taken from the brook crashing through the giant's 
armor and into his forehead. 

This victory over Goliath is a marked event in 
Hebrew history. It led to the defeat and com- 
plete rout of the Philistines. It marks the begin- 
ning of David's public career. While he had been 
at Saul's court as musician, he is now called to be 
Saul's armor-bearer; he wins the undying affec- 
tion of Jonathan, Saul's son; he becomes son-in- 
law to the king and captain of his bodyguard ; he 
quickly wins a high place in the esteem and con- 
fidence of all Israel. 

An Outlaw Chieftain. 

Hated of Saul. — On the return from the war 
against the Philistines in which the issues were 
decided in favor of Israel by David's defeat of 
the giant, the Hebrew women chanted the praises 
of the leaders, saying, ''Saul hath slain his thou- 
sands," and adding in a chorus, ''David hath 
slain his ten thousands." This roused bitter jeal- 
ousy in the heart of Saul, and from that day Saul 
hated and feared David and with increasing fury 
sought to destroy him. At first the king sought 
to compass David's downfall by commanding 
Jonathan and the courtiers to slay him. Failing 
in this, he undertook to kill him with his own 
hand, and more than once hurled at him the 



144 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

javelin which he held as a sign of royalty. When 
these efforts proved unavailing the king sought 
to destroy David by sending him on dangerous 
expeditions against the public enemy. In the 
midst of all these perils David behaved himself 
wisely, and Jehovah his God delivered him. 

Among the Philistines. — Convinced at last that 
Saul's anger could not be abated and realizing 
that his life was in constant peril, David went out 
from the court of Saul and became for perhaps 
a period of ten years an outlaw chieftain, a free- 
booting frontiersman. Going among the Philis- 
tines, he sought shelter among these enemies of 
his people. Discovered as the conqueror of their 
giant chieftain, and in consequent danger of sum- 
mary punishment, he feigned madness and 
through oriental reverence for insanity made his 
escape. 

The Cave of Adullam. — On his escape from the 
Philistines David took up his abode in the Cave 
of Adullam, situated in the southern part of the 
territory of Judah. Here his kinsmen and many 
men in the realm, oppressed by Saul's tyranny 
and dissatisfied with his misrule, flocked to his 
standards, so that he was speedily surrounded by 
a brave, devoted band. 

Saul left the administration of his government 
and turned all his forces toward the capture of 
David, hunting him like a partridge on the 
mountains. 

Generosity toward Saul. — This period of Da- 
vid's life is full of adventures and hair-breadth 



Kingdom in Its Glory: Reign of David. J^45 

escapes. Two incidents will sufficiently illustrate 
the nature of these experiences and indicate the 
spirit of Saul as also that of David. 

( 1 ) Saul, while hunting David in the wild fast- 
nesses of Judah, went into a cave for a season 
of rest. David, who with his men had hidden 
in the cave, took his sharp sword, and while Saul 
slept, cut off a part of his skirt. Later David 
showed the piece of the garment to Saul, de- 
clared that he had spared his life, and appealed to 
himi in a spirit of justice to cease his pursuit. 

(2) On another occasion Saul was sleeping in 
the midst of his bodyguard with his cruse near- 
by and his spear stuck in the ground. David, ac- 
companied by his nephew, made his way among 
the sleeping group and, taking Saul's cruse and 
his spear, escaped to the neighboring hills. At a 
safe distance across a mountain gorge he called 
to Saul and his bod3^guard and, holding up the 
cruse and the spear, he chided Abner with being 
lax in his care of the king, and thus again proved 
his kindness toward Saul. 

On both of these occasions Saul, with charac- 
teristic impulsiveness, declared his fault in perse- 
cuting David, besought his forgiveness, and 
promised future friendliness. Alas, the spirit of 
the Lord had departed from Saul and an evil 
spirit had com.e to possess him; he but grew in 
bitterness and persisted in his efforts to destroy 
the man whom God had declared was better than 
himself. 



10 



146 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

King in Hebron. 

The Philistines, having recovered from the de- 
feat inflicted by Israel on the death of Goliath, 
and taking advantage of Saul's absence from the 
seat of government in. quest of David, assembled 
an army and, marching up the plains, invaded 
SauFs territory in the neighborhood of Mt. Gil- 
boa. Learning of this peril, Saul left the pur- 
suit of David and went against his old-time 
enemy, only to be defeated and slain, along with 
three of his sons. The Israelites were now in 
sad plight. The Philistines were overruning the 
land, the government was breaking down and 
the people were disorganized and discouraged. 
Abner, captain of Saul's army, had Ishbosheth, 
Saul's son, crowned king, and established his 
capital at Mahanaim on the east of the Jordan. 
The elders of Judah, the tribe to which David 
belonged, called him to be their king. Bidden 
of the Lord, he went up to Hebron with his fam- 
ily and his now famous band of six hundred war- 
riors, and was crowned king over the tribe of 
Judah. 

Between David and the house of Saul there 
was constant warfare, in which David was usually 
victorious, so that, to use the expressive language 
of Scripture, ''David waxed stronger and 
stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker 
and weaker." Abner at length, foreseeing the 
inevitable result of the conflict and stung by an 
insult from Ishbosheth, delivered his sword and 
his army to David. 



Kingdom in Its Glory: Reign of David. 147 

King in Jerusalem. 

Saul's kingdom having thus fallen, the hearts 
of the men of Israel turned toward David, who 
had reigned seven and a half years over the tribe 
of Judah, and, assembling in vast numbers at 
Hebron, they asked him to become king of the 
whole nation. The promise of God through 
Samuel, cherished during w^eary years of delay, 
was at last fulfilled and David stood at the age 
of thirty-seven at the head of the united tribes 
of Israel. 

The outstanding events in David's reign of 
thirty-seven years in Jerusalem may be summed 
up as follows : 

Captured Jerusalem and made it his capital. 
On the occasion of David's coronation in He- 
bron as king over all the tribes, a host of war- 
riors, numbering upwards of 300,000, assembled 
for the festivities. Taking advantage of the pres- 
ence of this host, he determined to reduce the 
fortress of Jebus (afterwards called Jerusalem) 
and transfer his capital to that city. This strong 
fortification had resisted all attacks, and since 
the days of Joshua had remained in the hands of 
the native garrison. Even in the face of David's 
host they boasted that they could man the walls 
with the blind and maimed, assured that the fort- 
ress w^as impregnable. They little knew the spirit 
of the commander and the temper of the men 
who came against them. 



148 



Old Testament Studies. 



The reduction of this ancient stronghold and 
its choice as a capital illustrate the far-seeing wis- 
dom and the consummate statesmanship which 
mark the reign of David. On the border line be- 




tween the tribes of Benjamin and Judah, not far 
from the powerful tribe of Ephraim, a site of rare 
beauty and of great natural strength, this was 
the best site for a capital that could have been 
selected. Hither David brought the ark of the 
Lord, the tabernacle having probably perished, 



Kingdom in Its Glory: Reign of David, ^49 

and here he established the rehgious center of 
Israel. His was to be a theocratic kingdom, and 
he would associate in closest bonds the religious 
and political life of the people. 

Conquered his enemies round about. No sooner 
was David firmly seated on his throne and estab- 
lished in his new capital, than he set himself to 
the task of subduing the nations which had long 
threatened the peace of his people. 

(i) Naturally the Philistines, who had over- 
run the land on the death of Saul, came in for 
attention first. Their country was invaded and 
their chief cities were reduced. So complete was 
their subjugation, they gave no further trouble 
during David's reign. A friendly alliance was 
formed with the Phoenicians, whose king, Hiram, 
became the life-long friend of David. Thus peace 
was assured on the west and northwest of Israel. 

(2) David now turned his attention to his ene- 
mies on the east. Related by ties of blood to the 
Moabites, he had at one tim.e left his father and 
mother under the protection of the king of Moab. 
A Jewish tradition declares that his parents were 
cruelly slain, though we have in Scripture no 
record of the motive which prompted David to 
smite the people of Moab. 

(3) On the northeast were the Syrians, pos- 
sessed of large armies with considerable strength. 
David marched against these, defeating them and 
taking valuable spoils which he set aside for the 
future temple. 



150 ^^^ Testament Studies, 

(4) On the south lay the haughty Edomites 
who had long been bitter foes of their kinsmen, 
the Israelites. Against them David sent an army 
under Abishai, who defeated them, with heavy 
loss. Their prince, Hadad, escaped to Egypt and 
in later years returned to harass Solomon. 

By these conquests on the west and north, and 
on the east and south, David extended the boun- 
daries of his kingdom, so that it included no less 
than five times as much territory as was occupied 
by the original twelve tribes. Thus, after long 
delay, due to the faithlessness of the people, the 
promise to Abraham was fulfilled and Israel pos- 
sessed the land from the river of Egypt to the 
Euphrates. 

Organised and developed his kingdom. Hav- 
ing proven himself a military genius by unvary- 
ing success in all directions, he is now to demon- 
strate his wonderful statesmanship, and to prove 
that he is no less a king than a soldier. We are 
told that David executed judgment and justice 
among all the people. Unlike the usual oriental 
sovereign he regarded the rights of his subjects 
and sought in every way to promote their hap- 
piness. With skill and energy he systematized 
and perfected the civil regulations and admin- 
istered the affairs of government with a view to 
the peace and prosperity of the nation. As the 
religion of the people was inwoven with their 
national and political life, he lent himself to the 
development of the religious life of Israel, or- 
ganizing, and at times personally directing, the 
religious rites. 



Kingdom in Its Glory: Reign of David. 151 

Thus David brought the people to the golden 
age of their history. By his varied and wonder- 
ful services to the nation and by his deep devout- 
ness he attained a unique place in the hearts of 
the people and his memory was lovingly cherished 
in all after history. 

David's Great Sin. — David, by his sins and 
weak indulgences, laid the foundations for family 
and national disaster. In the incident of Uriah 
and Bathsheba, he fell into gross sin and com- 
mitted crimes which mar the luster of his name. 
Not least among the evidences of the inspiration 
of the Scriptures is the fact that the weaknesses 
and follies of its noblest and best men are re- 
corded with the utmost frankness. 

Concerning David's sins it is but fair to remind 
ourselves that scarcely any other oriental mon- 
arch would have given such things a second 
thought. And it is certainly but proper that, 
while we condemn his sins with all severity, we 
shall at the same time bear in mind his repentance 
as, with heart broken for his iniquities, he pours 
out his grief in the fifty-first Psalm. 

God mercifully forgave his sin, but the evil 
consequences of his guilt could not be eradicated. 
Both in his own family and in the national life 
the evil he had wrought bore fearful fruit as we 
shall see in our further studies. 

Preparation for the Building of the Temple. — 
David prepared for the erection of a house for 
Jehovah. Finding himself dwelling in a house 
of cedar while the Lord dwelt in a tent, it came 



152 ^^^^ Testament Studies. 

into the heart of David to build a house for God. 
Because he had been a man of war and blood- 
shed, he was not permitted to carry out his de- 
sign. This honor should be reserved for his son 
and successor, while he himself should gather 
material and prepare for the great work. Ac- 
cordingly through the years he gave himself to 
the task of storing riches and making plans for 
the glorious temple which his son should build. 

Parting Charge to Solomon, — David's parting 
charge to Solomon is characteristic, and indicates 
his dying wish for his loved son who was to reign 
in his stead: '1 go the way of all the earth: be 
thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man; 
and keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk 
in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his com- 
mandments, and his judgments, and his testi- 
monies, as it is written in the Law of Moses'' 
(i Kings 2: 2, 3). 

David and the Psalms. 

About half of the Psalms (seventy-three) are 
ascribed to David, though we cannot in all cases 
be sure of the trustworthiness of these records. 
David was not the first writer of songs among the 
Hebrews, but he made a collection of sacred songs 
and himself wrote many devotional poems, thus 
stamping the whole with his character. Even 
before New Testament times the collection be- 
came known as the Psalms of David. A poet of 
the heart, David has been called a universal poet. 
His hymns of praise and thanksgiving and con- 



Kingdom in Its Glory: Reign of David, ]^53 

fession seem to run the whole gamut of human 
experience and are loved and sung alike in pal- 
aces and hovels among all the nations of the 
earth. 

An Inspiring Career. 

In the character and career of David, eight 
things stand out in distinctness. 

(i) A brave shepherd. We are accustomed 
to think that David in defense of his flocks slew 
a lion and a bear. Rather his own statement 
appears to be : "Whenever a lion or a bear came 
against my flocks, I went forth and slew it.'' The 
foundations of David's character were laid dur- 
ing the days of the quiet shepherd life. 

(2) A gifted harpist. David won his first pub- 
lic recognition by his skill in pla}dng on the harp. 
Later when he was king in Jerusalem, he intro- 
duced stringed instruments into the temple in 
the worship of Jehovah, and taught the art of 
music to the whole people. 

(3) ^ glorious poet. David began early to 
write sacred hymns of praise and worship, and 
through all of his varied career he continued to 
write such hymms, signalizing in these sacred 
poems the great events of his life. 

(4) A faithful friend. The friendship of Da- 
vid and Jonathan has been admired and exalted 
through all the years. Under the most difficult 
and delicate conditions, even down to the un- 
timely death of Jonathan on the field of battle, 
David maintained his firm devotion to the friend 
of his early years. 



]^54 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

(5) A loyal subject. No man could have been 
more loyal to his king than was David to Saul. 
In David's eye Saul was the Lord's anointed, and 
as such he yielded to the poor demented monarch 
unfailing reverence and fidelity. Having learned 
how to obey he was the better prepared to rule. 

(6) An intrepid soldier. David never led an 
unsuccessful campaign, and so far as we know 
he never lost a battle. He defeated and subdued 
all the surrounding nations, while his fame in war 
was such that the world-empires lying beyond 
never lifted a hand to oppose the growth of his 
kingdom. 

(7) A wise king. If we would see the wisdom 
and power of David's constructive statesman- 
ship, we need only to compare the enfeebled and 
divided state of the tribes of Israel when he came 
to the throne with the mighty empire which he 
bequeathed to Solomon. 

(8) ''A man after God's own heart f' This is 
perhaps the strongest word of approval which 
Jehovah ever spoke concerning a m.an. Abraham 
was the "Friend of God/' Moses was ''the man 
of God," Daniel was "greatly beloved," but Da- 
vid was the "man after God's own heart." 



Kingdom in Its Glory: Reign of David. ]^55 



QUESTIONS. 

How does David rank among Old Testament char- 
acters? 

Into what sections does his life fall? 

Describe David's shepherd life. 

Tell something of David at the time of his coming to 
the court of Saul. 
Relate the story of David's battle with Goliath. 

Indicate the ways in which Saul's hatred for 'David 

manifested itself. 
Tell of David among the Philistines. 
Lfocate the cave of Adullam. 
Relate incidents which illustrate David's bearing 

toward Saul. 

What circumstances led to David's becoming king in 
Hebron? 
What was the relation between his kingdom and 
that of Saul? 

What conditions resulted in David's becoming king 
over all Israel? 

Give an account of the capture of Jerusalem. 
Name some nations against which David waged 

successful warfare. 
What of his organiation and development of the 

kingdom. 

How should we regard David's great sin? 

What preparation did David make for the building of 
the Temple? 
Describe David's parting charge to Solomon. 
Tell of David and the Psalms. 
Sum up briefly the characteristic features of Da- 
vid's career. 



OUTLINES FOR CHAPTER X. 



THE DECLINE AND DIVISION OF THE KING- 
DOM : SOLOMON AND REHOBOAM. 

Scripture Record — 1 Kings, chapters 1-12 ; 2 Chron- 
icles, chapters 1-11. 

Selections for Reading and Study — 1 Kings 3, 6, 
8—12: 24. 

Time — Accession of Solomon to Division of the 
Kingdom, 1022 to 982 B.C.* 



The Reign of Solomon (1 Kings 1-11; 2 Chronicles 
1-9). 

David and Solomon. 

Solomon's Choice of Wisdom. 

Builds the Temple. 

Extensive Building Operations. 

Commercial Enterprises. 

Solomon's Wisdom and His Magnificence. 

His Sad Decline. 

The Nations in Solomon's Day. 

The Writings of Solomon. 

Proverbs. 
Ecclesiastes. 
Song of Solomon. 

The Kingdom Divided (1 Kings 12). 

Jealousy of Ephraim. 
Worldliness and Idolatry. 
Heavy Taxation. 
Jeroboam's Ambition. 
Rehoboam's Foolish Course. 



* For a different chronology, see page 254. 
(156) 



CHAPTER X. 



THE DECLINE AND DIVISION OF THE 

KINGDOM : SOLOMON AND 

REHOBOAM. 



The Reign of Solomon. 

A STUDY of the last days of David reveals de- 
velopments and tendencies which prophesy the 
decline of the glorious kingdom he had built. The 
reign of Solomon is marked by increased splen- 
dor and outward pomp, but the forces of dis- 
integration were at work sapping the foundations 
of the national strength. 

David and Solomon. — David grew to manhood 
in the open fields following his father's sheep; 
Solomon grew up in an oriental harem amidst 
luxury and the enervating influence of court life. 
David was trained in the school of adversity and 
himself built the mighty kingdom over which he 
ruled; Solomon knew neither poverty nor ad- 
versity and, while yet of tender years, inherited 
a throne and kingdom. David made vast accu- 
mulations ; Solomon made vast expenditures : Da- 
vid with singular energy and ability made pro- 
vision for the king and the generation which 
should come after; Solomon lived on this lavish 
provision of his father and failed to make similar 
provision for the next generation. While the 

(157) 



158 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

reign of Solomon was one of dazzling glory and 
surpassing magnificence we are justified in char- 
acterizing it as essentially an era of decline. 

Solomon's Choice of Wisdom ( i Kings 3 : 5- 
15.) — Our first view of the young king in public 
life shows him in exceedingly fair light. A few 
miles north of Jerusalem, and in view from that 
city, was the height of Gibeon, an ancient seat 
of worship and for a long time the location of the 
tabernacle which Moses had constructed in the 
desert. At this place, in order to signalize the 
beginning of his reign, Solomon called together 
a mighty assembly of the people to present them- 
selves before the Lord. Solomon himself pro- 
vided for the people a thousand burnt sacrifices, 
and it became an occasion of national joy and 
worship. 

The assembling of such vast multitudes and the 
solemn worship in which they engaged impressed 
the youthful Solomon with the high responsibil- 
ities which had come upon him, and the last night 
of the feast at Gibeon he dreamed a dream which 
reflected his state of mind. Jehovah appeared to 
him oflfering, for the sake of David his father, to 
give him whatsoever he should ask. Solomon re- 
plied: ''Give thy servant an understanding heart 
to judge thy people, that I may discern between 
good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy 
so great a people?'' The request pleased the 
Lord and he declared that because Solomon had 
not asked long life, nor riches, nor the life of 
his enemies, but had asked wisdom to discern 



Decline of the Kingdom. 159 

judgment, therefore all of these should be given 
him : ''There was none like thee before thee, 
neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee/' 

Thus Solomon's life, like the life of Saul, opens 
in simple beauty and with rare charm. Never did 
young man face nobler opportunities for a glori- 
ous career of happiness and service. 

Builds the Temple, — The most significant 
achievement of Solomon's reign was the building 
of the temple, which has since borne his name 
and which for richness and splendor surpassed 
all similar structures in the ancient world. We 
have seen that David had gathered vast stores of 
riches and precious stones and varied timxbers and 
had made extensive preparations for the building. 
In the fourth year of Solomon's reign the founda- 
tions were laid and at the end of seven years the 
noble structure stood complete. For half a thou- 
sand years, until its destruction when Jerusalem 
fell, in 587 B.C., this temple stood as the pride of 
the Hebrew people and the center of the worship 
of Jehovah, a constant reminder of the wealth 
and glory of the days of the united kingdom. 

Extensive Building Operations. — While the 
temple was the supreme accomplishment of Solo- 
mon's reign, other extensive building projects 
were carried out. Indeed, the king developed a 
passion for building such as marked so many 
oriental mionarchs. For himself he erected a 
spacious palace, and for Pharaoh's daughter 
whom he had married, he built a house which 
would compare favorably with the royal houses 



160 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

of her own native Egypt ; other buildings in keep- 
ing with the costHness of the temple arose on 
Mt. Moriah, so that the whole hill was covered 
with a collection of wonderful buildings. When 
the natural surface of the hill proved insufficient 
to accommodate these numerous buildings, Solo- 
mon built around the hill vast structures, the re- 
mains of which may even now be seen in the im- 
mense stones visible at the Place of Wailing. 

Besides the buildings erected in and around the 
capital city, Solomon conducted extensive build- 
ing operations in all parts of the realm.. Satisfied 
with the extent of his domains he contented him- 
self with building and fortifying cities on the 
various borders of his territory. Notable among 
the cities which he built are Tadmor, afterwards 
called Palmyra, a trading center far out in the 
wilderness of Syria, and Thapsicus on the river 
Euphrates. 

Commercial Enterprises. — The wealth of Solo- 
mon's day, making possible building operations 
which have been the wonder of all succeeding 
ages, was in large measure due to his friendly 
alliances with surrounding nations and the con- 
sequent opening up of trade channels by which 
the riches of many countries flowed freely into 
Solomon's realm. 

The Phoenicians on the north were an active 
commercial people who carried on trade by land 
and sea over widely extended areas. With them 
Solomon maintained the closest alliance and from 
them he received both artisans and materials for 



Decline of the Kingdom. 161 

his building enterprises. Solomon was also 
closely allied to Egypt, having married a daugh- 
ter of the reigning Pharaoh; from Egypt horses 
and chariots and various products of Egyptian 
art were imported into Palestine. Trade relations 
were established with the rich sections of the 
Arabian peninsula and with various countries on 
the Mediterranean as far as Spain, as also appar- 
ently with far-away India. 

While the glory and wealth of the Hebrew 
people were thus increased, the spirit and intent 
of the Law of Moses, which provided that Israel 
should be a separate people, was violated and 
many perils and temptations were brought in 
along with the incoming tide of luxury and in- 
dulgence. 

Solomon's Wisdom and His Magnificence, — 
Richly endowed by nature and specially endowed 
by divine decree, Solomon developed such wisdom 
as made him famous among the surrounding na- 
tions, while the splendor and wealth of his court 
came to be known throughout the world. The 
visit of the (jueen of Sheba is recorded as illus- 
trating both his wisdom and his magnificence. 
''And she said to the king. It was a true report 
that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of 
thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words, 
until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, 
behold, the half was not told me : thy wisdom 
and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I 
heard'' (i Kings lo: 6, 7). 

11 



162 ^^^ Testament Studies, 

His Sad Decline, — As was the case with King 
Saul, Solomon's public life opened with manifes- 
tations of humility and obedience which gave fair 
promise of a career of godly living and wise rul- 
ing. With the increase of wealth and power, his 
heart, like the heart of Saul, was drawn away 
from Jehovah, and the weak indulgence of his 
later days is in marked contrast with the energy 
and fidelity of his earlier years. 'Tor it came to 
pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives 
turned away his heart after other gods: and his 
heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as 
was the heart of David his father'' ( i Kings 
11:4). 

The Nations in Solomon's Day, — A glance at 
the peoples surrounding Israel in the time of Da- 
vid and Solomon sheds light on this part of 
Israel's history. 

Egypt was ruled by a dynasty which had been 
weakened by inward dissension and by foreign 
wars. This accounts for the fact that Egypt per- 
mitted without dissent the growth of the kingdom 
under David and its continuance under Solomon. 
It is significant of the real attitude of Egypt that 
Jeroboam went up out of that country to lead a 
revolt against the reigning king ; and that Hadad, 
a brother-in-law of the Egyptian king, went up 
to Edom to harass Solomon on the south; and 
especially that in the fifth year of Rehoboam, 
Solomon's successor, Shishak king of Egypt in- 
vaded Palestine, even entering Jerusalem and 
taking away the treasures of the sacred temple. 



Decline of the Kingdom. 163 

Assyria far to the northeast had, after the 
death of Tiglath-Pileser I, lost much of its an- 
cient power and vigor, and did not again attain 
its former place for a hundred years after Da- 
vid's day. Someone has said that God seems to 
have laid a quieting hand on the nations around, 
which would have been the natural enemies of 
the growing Israelite kingdom, in order to de- 
velop the Hebrew monarchy. 

The SyrophoenicianSj a vigorous commercial 
people to the north, were allies of the Hebrew 
people, their king Hiram being the close friend 
of David and, after his death, of Solomon. 

The Writings of Solomon. 

Three Scripture books are ascribed to Solo- 
mon : Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of 
Solomon. 

The hook of Proverbs constitutes a treatise on 
the practical problems of daily living. The 
warnings of the book suggest perils which arise 
only in a settled state with the multiplied tempta- 
tions which arise in the midst of wealth and pros- 
perity. Solomon was the author in much the 
same sense in which David was the author of 
the book of Psalms ; he wrote many of the 
Proverbs himself; he collected wise sayings by 
others ; and to these, additions were made in later 
days. 

Ecclesiastes is supposed to reflect the experi- 
ences of Solomon in the enjoyment of worldly 



]^g4 Old Testament Studies, 

success and wealth. It is really a discussion of 
the old question as to what is the best good and 
ends with this conclusion : ''Let us hear the con- 
clusion of the whole matter ; Fear God, and keep 
his commandments : for this is the whole duty of 
man'' (Ecclesiastes 12: 13). 

The Song of Solomon is a beautiful poem in 
which devout souls have found an allegory of the 
love of Christ for his people. 

The Kingdom Divided. 

That the vast empire of David and Solomon, 
which appeared to have elements of enduring 
strength, should crumble to pieces upon Solo- 
mon's death must cause some surprise. A close 
scrutiny of the conditions which obtained during 
the last years of Solomon's reign, together with 
a consideration of certain divisive elements, will 
shed light on this bit of history. At least five 
elements contributed to the dividing of the king- 
dom. 

Jealousy of Ephraim. — Between the leading 
tribes, Judah and Ephraim, there had long been 
rivalry, and at times bitter jealousy. Such jeal- 
ousy on the part of Ephraim had flamed out in 
connection with the exploits of both Gideon and 
Jephthah. It will be recalled that, during the 
seven years of David's reign in Hebron, Judah 
had followed the standards of David, while Eph- 
raim, leading the other tribes, had acknowledged 
the rule of the house of Saul. When the tribes 



Decline of the Kingdom. ]^g5 

were united under David, the strong and wise 
rule of that king, and, after him, of Solomon, 
served to hold the tribes together. When these 
bonds were relaxed the pride of Ephraim, which 
tribe doubtless had chafed under the preeminence 
accorded to Judah, asserted itself and the division 
resulted. 

Worldliness and Idolatry. — The strength of 
Israel as a nation lay in fidelity and obedience to 
the Law of Jehovah. Solomon had been drawn 
away from the plain paths in which his father 
David had walked and he in turn had led the 
nation away from God. The spirit of worldli- 
ness, the deceptive influence of riches, the evils 
of idolatry, tended to weaken the character, and 
to destroy the national consciousness, of the He- 
brews and paved the way for national disaster. 
^Tor it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that 
his wives turned away his heart after other gods : 
and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his 
God, as was the heart of David his father. For 
Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of 
the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination 
of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the 
sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the 
Lord, as did David his father'' (i Kings ii : 4-6). 

Heavy Taxation. — Solomon's kingdom as such 
had grown immensely rich, but its wealth grew 
at the expense of the happiness and prosperity of 
the people. Riches flowed in from foreign lands, 
but these went to increase the exchequer of the 
king, rather than to meet the needs of the people. 



166 



Old Testament Studies. 



A chief question at Solomon's death, in connection 
with the succession to the throne, was the re- 
duction of the oppressive burdens which had been 
placed upon the people. This was the question 
upon which the leaders broke with Rehoboam. 



THE TWO 
KINGDOMS 

£. M.Gardner 




Jeroboam's Ambition. — Jeroboam had signal- 
ized himself as a man of forceful leadership in 
connection with some of Solomon's building 
operations, and had in consequence been placed 
over the tribe of Ephraim to which he belonged. 



Decline of the Kingdom. Jg7 

A prophet of God had given him indication that 
he should become ruler of ten of the tribes of 
Israel, which, because of Solomon's sins, should 
be rent from his house. When this reached the 
ears of Solomon he sought to slay Jeroboam, who 
escaped to Egypt. At the death of Solomon, 
Jeroboam came up out of Egypt and placed him- 
self at the head of the deputation which waited 
upon Rehoboam. His presence and influence 
largely account for the defection of the ten tribes. 
Rehoboam's Foolish Coiirse. — Rehoboam went 
to Shechem to receive the indorsement of the 
northern tribes and to be crowned king of Israel. 
When the elders came with the reasonable re- 
quest that their burdens should be lightened, he 
answered them roughly and declared that he 
would make their burdens heavier than they had 
been under Solomon his father. This foolish 
word stirred into a flame the slumbering discon- 
tent and resentment, and the ten northern tribes 
set up the standard of revolt and established a 
new kingdom, calling Jeroboam to the throne. 



168 ^^^ Testament Studies. 



QUESTIONS. 

Draw a contrast between David and Solomon. 
Tell of Solomon's choice of wisdom. 
What of the building of the Temple? 
Describe other building operations conducted by 
Solomon. 

What of Solomon's wisdom and magnificence? 
What were the evidences of Solomon's decline? 
Describe conditions in Solomon's day: (1) In 
Egypt, (2) in Assyria, (3) in Syro-Phoenicia. 

Tell something of the books of Scripture written by 
Solomon. 

How did the jealousy of Ephraim contribute to the 
division of the kingdom? 
What of worldliness and idolatry in this connec- 
tion? 
How did heavy taxation play a part? 
What of Jeroboam's ambition? 
What was Rehoboam's foolish course? 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 



THE 
KINGDOM 

(120 yrs.) 



The 

Kingdom of 

Judah 



Saul (40) 
David (40) 
Solomon (40) 



Rehoboam (17) 

Abijah (3) 

THE Asa (41) 

TWO 

KINGDOMS 

(259 Years.) 

Jehoshaphat (25) 



Jehoram (8) 

Ahaziah (1) 

(Athaliah) (6) 

Joash (40) 



Amaziah (29) 
Uzziah (52) 



(982 B. C.) 



Elijah 
Elisha 



Obadiah Jonah 

Hosea 
Amos 



Isaiah 
Micah 



The 

Kingdom of 

Israel 

Jeroboam (22) 



] Dynas- 
ties. 



Nadab (2) 
Baasha (24) 
Elah (2) 
Zimri (7 d's) 
Omri (12) 
Ahab (22) 

Ahaziah (2) 
Jehoram (12) 

Jehu (28) 

Jehoahaz (17) 
Jehoash (16) 
Jeroboam II (41) 

Zachariah (6m) 
Shallum (Im) 
Menahem (10) 
Pekahiah (2) 
Pekah 20) 

Hoshea (9) 



II. 



IV. 



Jotham (16) 
Ahaz (16) 

Hezekiah (29) 

Manasseh (55) 

Amon (2) 

JUDAH Josiah (31) 

ALONE Jehoahaz (3m 

(135 Yrs.) Jehoiakim(ll) 

Jehoiachin (3m) 

Zedekiah (11) 

Jerusalem 

Destroyed 

THE Babylonian Captivity (587 B. C.) 
CAPTIVITY Daniel 
(52 Years) Ezekiel 
<- 



Jeremiah 



Nahum 

Zephaniah 

Habakkuk 



VI 

JVII. 
VIII. 

IX. 

— 722 B.C 
Assyrian 
Captivity 



Zemibbabel 

Ezra 

Nehemiah 

THE RESTORATION 

(135 Years) 



Between the Testaments 



Return 



Haggai 

Zechariah 

Malachi 

|400 yrs. } 
*Birth of our Lord Jesus. 



(169) 



OUTLINES FOR CHAPTER XI. 



ISRAEL, THE NORTHERN KINGDOM. 

Scripture Record — (Along with the record of Ju- 
dah, the Southern Kingdom) 1 Kings, chapter 
12 to 2 Kings, chapter 17. 

Selections for Reading and Study — 1 Kings 12: 
25—13 : 34, 17-22 ; 2 Kings 1-6, 9, 10, 17. 

Time~982 to 722 B.C.* 



Jeroboam, the First King (1 Kings 12: 25 — 14: 20; 
2 Chronicles 13). 

A Vigorous Ruler. 
The Golden Calves. 

The Reign of Omri (1 Kings 16: 21-28). 

Ahab and Jezebel (1 Kings 16: 29 — 22: 40). 

The Ministry of Elijah. 

Elijah's Ministry Opens. 
The Crisis of His Ministry. 
His Ministry Seems to Fail. 
Elijah's Ministry Not a Failure. 

Elisha and His Miracles. 

Jehu, the Ruthless Reformer (2 Kings 9-10). 

The Reign of Jeroboam II (2 Kings 14: 16-29). 

A Successful Ruler. 

Jonah Prophesies against Nineveh. 

Hosea and Amos. 

Israel is LtEd Captive to Assyria (2 Kings 17). 



* For a different chronology, see page 254. 
(170) 



CHAPTER XL 



ISRAEL, THE NORTHERN KINGDOM. 



We follow first the course of the Northern 
kingdom, reserving for the next chapter a study 
of Judah, the Southern kingdom. The Northern 
kingdom, which henceforth we call Israel, stood 
for 259 years and during this period it had nine- 
teen kings belonging to nine different families or 
dynasties. Of these kings we study particularly 
those which seem to be of most importance, lin- 
gering somewhat with the great prophets through 
whom God sent messages to the people of Israel. 

Jeroboam, the First King. 

A Vigorous Ruler. — Jeroboam, the first and 
greatest of the kings of Israel, impressed himself 
so deeply on the national life that we can trace 
his influence through all the after years. He 
showed early in his reign that he was more con- 
cerned about his own place and power than that 
the people should fear God. He ruled with vigor, 
selecting Tirzah as the seat of his government 
and fortifying the ancient Shechem, which was 
the center of his dominions. 

The Golden Calves. — The one act of daring 
folly which forever mars the name of Jeroboam 

(171) 



172 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

was the setting up of idols at Dan and Bethel. 
Fearing that his people, if they went to worship 
in Jerusalem, would find their hearts turning 
toward the king of Judah, he selected two ancient 
shrines, Dan on the northern boundary, and 
Bethel on the southern boundary. Here in imi- 
tation of worship to which he had grown accus- 
tomed in Egypt, he set up golden calves, saying, 
''These be thy gods, O Israel.'' Instead of re- 
quiring the people to assemble three times annu- 
ally, according to the law of Moses, he permitted 
them to assemble once each year. ''The time for 
this gathering was one month after the Passover, 
so that it would have been extremely inconvenient 
to attend both at Bethel and at Jerusalem.'' This 
act of defiance was not permitted to go unchal- 
lenged ; God sent a prophet out of Judah to Bethel 
who boldly rebuked the folly of the king and pre- 
dicted a day of vengeance on the priests of 
Bethel. The inspired writers speak of "Jero- 
boam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin." 
Thus the man who by his energy and gifts might 
have been a man of destiny stands out as a man 
of infamy. After Jeroboam came Nadab, Baasha, 
Elah, and Zimri, but with these names we need 
not linger. 

The Reign of Omri. 

Omri founded the fourth dynasty and proved 
himself a vigorous but unscrupulous ruler. Hav- 
ing reigned six years at Tirzah, he purchased the 
site of Samaria and built there his capital. "No 



Israel, the Northern Kingdom. I73 

better site for a capital could have been selected 
in the length and breadth of Palestine, — a 
strong position, rich environs, central situation, 
and an elevation sufficient to catch untainted the 
cool, healthy breezes of the sea'' (Murray). 
While he strengthened and extended the king- 
dom, showing himself a soldier of intrepid abil- 
ity, he did much to corrupt the people and lead 
them into idolatry. Little space is given in the 
Scriptures to the reign of Omri, but the refer- 
ences to this king on ancient monuments discov- 
ered in modern times show that he impressed 
himself deeply upon the nations of his time. 

Ahab and Jezebel. 

In order to strengthen his alliance with the 
Phoenician kingdom, Omri sought the hand of 
Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal king of the Phoe- 
nicians, for Ahab, his son and successor. A bold, 
unscrupulous woman, Jezebel instituted the most 
cruel persecution against the worshipers of Je- 
hovah and sought by every possible means to 
make Baal-worship the national religion. Ahab, 
though a brave soldier and a forceful king, was 
dominated by the evil spirit of the queen and 
yielded himself to her plans for the up-rooting 
of all remnants of the true faith. At this time 
and under these conditions, God raised up Elijah, 
the rough-clad and stern-spirited prophet who, 
alone and single-handed, waged relentless war- 
fare against the worship of Baal. 



174 ^^^ Testament Studies, 

The Ministry of Elijah. 

Elijah's Ministry Opens. — In the upland fast- 
nesses of his native Gilead, Elijah had been hear- 
ing of the high-handed course of Queen Jezebel 
in suppressing the worship of the true God and 
establishing Baal-worship as the national reli- 
gion. At last, sudden as the flashing of a meteor, 
he appeared, clad in garments of the desert, in 
the midst of Ahab's court ; denouncing with vigor 
the idolatry of the court and of the people, in 
the name of Jehovah he declared, 'There shall 
be neither rain nor dew these years save at my 
word/' Having delivered his message to the 
astonished king and court, the prophet slipped 
away from Samaria and hid himself to await 
God's call for another move in the mighty con- 
test which had begun. 

For perhaps a year, Elijah lived in quiet seclu- 
sion beside the brook Cherith, probably in the 
wild mountains of Judea near the Jordan valley. 
Here when other supply failed, ravens ''brought 
him bread and flesh in the morning and bread and 
flesh in the evening.'' When at length the brook 
failed, the prophet was directed to Zarepheth, a 
Phoenician village on the seashore between Tyre 
and Sidon. Here he was sustained by a widow 
and in grateful recognition of her kindness, when 
her son was stricken by death, he restored the 
lad to life, this being the first recorded miracle 
of raising from the dead. 



Israel, the ISforthern Kingdom. J75 

The Crisis of His Ministry. — When three years 
of fearful drought had passed, and the whole 
land was parched and blackened, Elijah again and 
as suddenly appeared to Ahab, now in quest of 
water and forage for his horses and mules, and 
bade him assemble the 450 prophets of Baal and 
the 400 prophets of Ashtoreth on the heights of 
Carmel that there might be a final test as between 
Baal and Jehovah. 

It is difficult to conceive a grander spectacle. 
On one side are the king and his court with an 
immense array of false prophets and a great con- 
course of people. On the other side stands the 
lone but unfearing prophet of Jehovah, quiet and 
confident. It is agreed that each side shall pre- 
pare an altar and an offering. First Baal, then 
Jehovah, shall be entreated to send fire to de- 
vour the ofifering, — the god that answers by fire 
he shall be the god. The priests and prophets 
of Baal entreated their god ; goaded by the biting 
sarcasm of Elijah, they lashed themselves into 
fury and cried aloud, but their cries and prayers 
were of no avail. Baal did not respond. When 
the hour for the evening sacrifice drew near, 
Elijah, having prepared his altar and his ofifer- 
ing, called upon Jehovah to vindicate himself. 
Instantly his prayer received answer. God sent 
fire, which consumed ''the burnt sacrifice and 
the woodj and the stones and the dust, and licked 
up even the water that was in the trench.'' This 
marvelous manifestation of divine power brought 
its inevitable result; the people were overwhelmed 



176 ^^^ Testament Studies, 

and with one voice cried, '^Jehovah, he is the God : 
Jehovah, he is the God/' At the instance of 
EHjah the people, now indignant toward the Baal 
prophets by whom they have been deceived and 
misled, hurry them to the brink of the mountain 
and hurl them down the precipice to the depths 
hundreds of feet below. 

While Ahab and his courtiers feast, Elijah 
again betakes himself to prayer; this time for 
rain which, according to the word of Jehovah, by 
his prophet, has been withhheld for three years. 
Assured that his prayer is heard, he summons 
Ahab to hasten back to Jezreel, his royal palace, 
and placing himself before the chariot of the king 
as his faithful subject, he runs across the valley 
and up the heights of Jezreel. 

His Ministry Seems to Fail. — In this hour of 
victory the word comes from Jezebel, 'The gods 
do so to me and more also if I make not thy life 
as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this 
time.'' It was clearly an impotent threat, a threat 
which if Jezebel could have executed she would 
never have made. But it had its desired eflfect. 
Coming at a time when the prophet was worn in 
mind and body, when he was flushed with a sup- 
posed victory, this threatening word of the en- 
raged queen sent the mighty man, who had dared 
to face the king and all the false prophets, hurry- 
ing away to seek shelter for his life. Not daring 
to stay, even in the neighboring kingdom of 
Judah, he hurries on south and plunging into the 
wilderness he goes a day's journey. Later he 



Israel, the Northern Kingdom. 177 

makes his way, probably, to the lone mountain 
in Arabia where, in the midst of lightning and 
earthquake, God had given the Ten Command- 
ments, and there receives reassuring visions of 
God's goodness and his glory. From the desert 
Elijah returns to the Jordan valley and selects 
Elisha to be his minister and successor. 

Elijah's Ministry Not a Failure, — The fiery 
Tishbite stood like a mighty wall against the 
idolatry of his day, comforting the beleaguered 
servants of Jehovah and terrifying his enemies. 
While the evil currents proved too strong to be 
overcome, the ministry of Elijah, together with 
that of EUsha his successor, stayed somewhat the 
tides of evil and postponed the day of national 
punishment. Besides the fruitfulness of his min- 
istry in his own day, the character and career of 
Elijah have been in all succeeding ages a chal- 
lenge to the followers of God and an inspiration 
to the noblest daring and the highest living. Like 
Enoch before him he was translated, that he 
should not see death. 

Elisha and His Miracles. 

Upon the ascension of Elijah his mantle fell 
upon Elisha and henceforth for many years this 
prophet continued to do battle against idolatry. 
A list of some of the miracles he wrought will 
give an idea of the nature and extent of his 
activities. 

12 



178 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

(i) The separating of the waters of Jordan 
that he might walk over dry-shod. (2 Kings 2: 
13, 14.) 

(2) The heaHng of the bitter spring of Jericho 
by the use of salt. (2 Kings 2: 19-22.) 

(3) The calling out of two bears to destroy 
forty-two children at Bethel. (2 Kings 2: 24.) 

(4) Multiplying a cruse of oil and thus saving 
the widow of a prophet from her creditors. (2 
Kings 4: 1-7.) 

(5) The raising to life of the Shunammite's 
son. (2 Kings 4: 8-37.) 

(6) Rendering a pot of poisoned pottage fit 
for food by casting meal into it. (2 Kings 4: 

38-41.) 

(7) The multiplying of some barley loaves and 
some roasted ears of corn so that they sufficed 
for a hundred people. (2 Kings 4: 42-44.) 

(8) The recovering of Naaman, the Syrian, 
from his leprosy. (2 Kings 5.) 

Elijah and Elisha left no sacred writings, but 
they wrought mightily in word and deed. In a 
time of declension and idolatry, they rebuked 
kings, exhorted the nation, stood for the highest 
ideals in religious and civic life. Their ministry 
is especially marked by the prevalence of miracles. 
Each wrought the miracle of raising from the 
dead, besides many other striking works. Nor 
before, since the days of the Exodus, have we 
found such abundance of miracles, nor do we 
again in Old Testament history find a period so 
marked by the miraculous. 



Israel, the Northern Kingdom, I79 

Jehu, the Ruthless Reformer. 

The house of Omri, represented by four kings, 
Omri, Ahab, Ahaziah, and Jehoram, had reigned 
almost fifty years and, despite the influence of 
EHjah and EHsha, this wicked dynasty had led 
Israel constantly deeper into idolatry. Another 
revolution was at hand. 

Jehu, captain of King Jehoram's army now at 
Ramoth-gilead engaged in warfare with Syria, 
was at the instance of Elisha anointed king by 
one of the sons of the prophets and was imme- 
diately crowned by the military leaders. Hurry- 
ing across the Jordan and driving furiously across 
the plain of Esdraelon, the newly-crowned king 
slew Jehoram, exterminated the house of Ahab, 
and inaugurated a bloody revolution. Commis- 
sioned to uproot Baal worship, Jehu entered with 
relentless energy upon the task. Pretending to 
be zealous for Baal, he called a convocation of 
the worshipers of that god in the temple in Sa- 
maria' dedicated to his service, taking pains to 
exclude any worshipers of Jehovah who through 
fright or otherwise might have been drawn in. 
At a given signal, eighty armed men, stationed 
at the entrances of the temple, ruthlessly destroyed 
this whole assembly of Baal devotees. Through- 
out the whole realm, the idols of Baal were 
thrown down and every effort was put forth to 
destroy utterly the idolatry which had, under the 
preceding reigns, taken such deep root. 



180 ^^^^ Testament Studies. 

As might be supposed, the effects of such a 
reformation wrought in bloodshed were superficial 
and temporary. Jehu, zealous as he was in the 
destruction of idolatry, was a stranger to piety 
and devoid of those finer qualities which mark 
the true religious reformer. 

The Reign of Jeroboam II. 

A Successful! Ruler. — A great-grandson of 
Jehu and the greatest of the five kings of Jehu's 
house, Jeroboam II reigned for a period of forty- 
one years, and by his skill and energy restored 
Israel to something of the glory and prosperity 
which marked the golden days of David and Solo- 
mon. He gave himself to promoting husbandry 
and stock-raising, and in many ways contributed 
to the happiness and prosperity of his people. 
His reign possesses especial interest because dur- 
ing this time there appeared three prophets, 
Jonah, Amos, and Hosea, who left behind them 
writings of permanent value. 

Jonah Prophesies Against Nineveh, — During 
the reign of Jeroboam II, Nineveh loomed on the 
horizon as a threatening menace to the kingdom 
of Israel. The prophet Jonah was called to go 
to this great city, to denounce its wickedness, and 
to announce its impending doom. Knowing well 
the compassion of Jehovah, Jonah foresaw what 
would happen as a result of his mission — that 
Nineveh would repent and that God would spare 
the city. As a patriot, devoted to the welfare of 
Israel, Jonah had little love for Nineveh. He did 



Israel, the Xorthern Kingdom. JgJ 

not desire that the city which threatened the very 
existence of his own loved land should be spared. 
Hence, he refused to go to Nineveh and took ship 
for Tarshish, a port on the coast of Spain. Ar- 
rested by a storm and brought back by a great 
fish, he at length took his journey to Nineveh. 
For forty days he cried in the streets of the city 
against its idolatry, declaring that Jehovah would 
utterly destroy Nineveh. When Nineveh re- 
pented, God's wrath was averted and the threat- 
ened punishment was withheld. Seeing that this 
old-time enemy of Israel was spared, Jonah gave 
vent to his displeasure in no uncertain terms. It 
is to be regretted that the incident of Jonah's de- 
liverance by means of the great fish has been so 
magnified as to obscure the real message of the 
book, which is that God's compassion passed be- 
yond the narrow limits of his chosen Israel and 
embraced not only all men but all creatures. 

The four chapters of the book of Jonah have 
been happily characterized as follows : 

Plays truant (chapter i). 
Prays to Jehovah (chapter 2). 
Preaches to Nineveh (chapter 3). 
Pouts and is reproved (chapter 4). 

Hosea and Amos. — These prophets lived dur- 
ing the worldly and idolatrous reign of Jeroboam 
11. Concerning their personal lives we know 
little save that which is revealed in their writ- 
ings. During these dark days of national apos- 
tasy, they boldly rebuked idolatry and faithfully 



1^2 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

called the people to return to the worship of the 
true God. The ministry of these men served to 
check for a time the drift toward ruin, but when 
their voices were hushed the nation hastened to 
its doom. 

The following outlines of the books of Hosea 
and Amos, taken from the New Normal Manual, 
indicate the nature of their prophecies : 

Hosea — 
I. Israel's unfaithfulness symbolized by the 
prophet's unhappy marriage. (Chapters 

1-3.) 

II. Warnings and entreaties to Israel to turn 
to God. (Chapters 4-14.) 

Amos — 
I. Amos denounces surrounding nations. 
(Chapters i, 2.) 
II. Amos denounces Israel. (Chapters 3-6.) 
III. Visions of overthrow to be followed by 
restoration. (Chapters 7-1 1.) 

Hosea sets forth vividly the undying love of 
Jehovah for his faithless people, while Amos as- 
serts divine justice. 

Israel is Led Captive to Assyria. 

After Jeroboam II, the Northern kingdom 
stood about forty years, but increasing weakness 
within and threatening enemies without fore- 
tokened coming ruin. Six weak kings, usually 
ascending the throne by ruthless assassination, 



Israel, the Northern Kingdom, ]^g3 

succeeded each other and conditions grew steadily 
worse until during the reign of Hoshea, Samaria 
fell and the kingdom came to an end. 

Rising into prominence about 900 B.C., the 
Assyrian empire, with Nineveh as its capital and 
chief city, continued until the fall of Nineveh 
(607 B.C.) to dominate the eastern world, af- 
fecting vitally the interests of both Israel and 
Judah. During the reign of Pekah, Tiglath- 
pileser II invaded the domains of Israel and car- 
ried captive the inhabitants of Gilead, on the east 
of the Jordan, and the people of Galilee, north 
of the plain of Esdraelon. Thus the kingdom was 
reduced so that in Hoshea's day it included only 
the city of Samaria and sections adjacent. On 
the death of Tiglath-pileser and the accession of 
Shalmaneser, Hoshea foolishly made alliance 
with Egypt and refused to pay the usual tribute 
to Assyria. Before aid could come from Egypt, 
the armies of Shalmaneser swept west, besieged 
Samaria, and cast Hoshea into prison. V/ith 
desperate courage and with unutterable suffering, 
the people of Samaria resisted for three years. 
During this time Shalmaneser died and his suc- 
cessor, Sargon, took the city in y22 B.C., march- 
ing the best of its inhabitants away to the region 
of Nineveh. Here they are lost to history, and 
all efforts to trace the destinies of "the lost ten 
tribes of Israel'' have been futile. 

To occupy the land thus left without inhabi- 
tants, Sargon brought colonists from Babylon and 
other distant parts of his realm. These mingled 



X84 Old Testament Studies. 

with the handful of poor peasants who had been 
left in the land. Out of this mixture of distinct 
races with various religions, grew the Samaritan 
people of whom we hear much in New Testament 
times. 

QUESTIONS. 

Give outline of Old Testament history down to the 
division of the kingdom. How long did the 
Northern kingdom stand? How many kings 
reigned during this period? 

Characterize the reign of Jeroboam. 

Why did he set up the golden calves? 
What was the chief event in the reign of Omri? 
Describe Ahab and Jezebel. 
How did Elijah's ministry open? 

Tell of the crisis on Mt. Carmel. 

Describe the seeming failure of Elijah's ministry. 

Show that Elijah's ministry was not a failure. 
Name some miracles wrought by Elisha. 
What was the character of Jehu's reign? 
What of the reign of Jeroboam II? 

Tell of Jonah and his ministry. 

Tell something of Amos and Hosea. 

Who was Israel's last king? 

When were the people of the Northern kingdom 
taken captive? By whom? 



OUTLINES FOR CHAPTER XII. 



JUDAH, THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM : 
TO THE FALL, OF SAMARIA. 

Scripture Record — 2 Kings, chapters 18-25 (along 
with the Record of Israel) ; 2 Chronicles, chap- 
ters 10-29. 

Selections for Reading and Study — 2 Chronicles 12, 
14-20, 24, 26. 

Time— 982 to 722 B.C.* 

The Kingdoms Compared. 
Advantages of Israel. 
Advantages of Judah. 

MuTTJAii Relations. 
Hostility, 60 years. 
Alliance, 30 years. 
Renewed Hostility, 169 years. 

The Reign of Rehoboam (1 Kings 12: 21-24, 14: 21- 
31; 2 Chronicles 11, 12). 

Asa and Jehoshaphat (1 Kings 15: 9-24; 2 Chron- 
icles 14-20). 

JOASH Repairs the Temple (2 Kings 12; 2 Chron- 
icles 24). 

UzziAH Reigns Fifty-Two Years (2 Chronicles 26). 

The Apostasy Under Ahaz (2 Kings 16). 

Hezekiah's Reign (2 Kings 18-20; 2 Chronicles 
29-32). 

A Good King. 
A Great Passover. 
Sennacherib's Army Destroyed. 
Hezekiah's Life Lengthened. 

The Prophet Isaiah. 
The Prophet's Call. 
His Long Usefulness. 



* For a different chronology, see page 254. 

(185) 



CHAPTER XIL 



JUDAH, THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM ; 
TO THE FALL OF SAMARIA. 



We now turn our attention to Judah, the 
Southern kingdom, and study that period of Ju- 
dah's history in which the two kingdoms stood 
side by side. Having already followed the ex- 
periences of the Northern kingdom to its fall 
in 722 B.C., we may compare the two kingdoms 
and consider how they stood related to each other 
during this time. 

The Kingdoms Compared. 

Advantages of Israel. — The Northern kingdom 
possessed many advantages: (i) Israel had 
much the larger and much the richer territory. 
With her 9,500 square miles, as against Judah's 
3,500 square miles, she was nearly three times 
as large in area. But this does not give an ade- 
quate conception of the superior resources of 
Israel. In her territory were the richest lands 
and the most fruitful plains of Palestine. The 
plain of Jezreel, the Esdraelon plain, the Jordan 
valley, and the beautiful hill country of Ephraim, 
were all within the bounds of Israel, while the 
greater part of Judah's territory was rough and 
(186) 



Judah, the Southern Kingdom. 187 

barren. (2) Israel had for the most part the 
schools of the prophets. These sacred centers, 
made glorious by association with Samuel, their 
founder, wielded no mean influence over the reli- 
gious and civil life of the people. 

Advantages of Judah. — But not all the advan- 
tages were with Israel : ( i ) Judah had Jerusa- 
lem for its capital. It is difficult to overestimate 
the blessings which came to the Southern king- 
dom from the possession of this splendid capital 
and sacred shrine. On Mt. Moriah where stood 
the Temple, according to an accepted tradition, 
Abraham had offered Isaac; there also the angel 
of the Lord, in answer to the entreaty of David, 
had stayed the plague beside the threshing floor 
of Araunah; there Solomon had reigned in sur- 
passing glory. While Israel's capitals shifted 
and while Samaria, its chief capital, was marred 
by associations of idolatry, Jerusalem, with its 
hallowed associations, continued to be the civil 
and religious capital of Judah. (2) Judah had 
Solomon's Temple which was the accepted center 
of the religious life of the nation. Hither the 
tribes had been wont to come up from all parts 
to present themselves before Jehovah. The poor 
idolatrous shrines at Bethel and Dan were a piti- 
ful exchange for the noblest and most imposing 
Temple ever raised by human hands. (3) Ju- 
dah had further advantage in the matter of her 
hereditary rulers which were all of the house of 
David. While the kings of Israel were without 
exception wicked and selfish men, many of Ju- 



X88 ^^^ Testament Studies, 

dah's kings walked in the ways of their father, 
David, and sought to lead the people back to the 
worship of the true Gk)d. 

Mutual Relations. 

Closely related as the two kingdoms were by 
ties of blood and by bonds of religion, and lying- 
side by side with no natural boundary to separate 
them, it was inevitable that each should affect 
the life of the other. There was first a period of 
war, followed by a season of alliance, this in turn 
followed by a longer period of hostility. 

Hostility, — For sixty years after the division 
of the kingdom there was petty warfare between 
Israel and Judah. Rehoboam and his successors 
refused to concede to the ten tribes the right to 
revolt and the Southern kingdom kept up a pro- 
longed effort to compel them by force to return 
to the fold. These efforts resulted at times in 
pitched battles in which there was heavy loss of 
life on both sides, while at all times there was a 
hostile attitude. 

Alliance, — In the days of Ahab and his suc- 
cessors in Israel and of Jehoshaphat in Judah, 
there was a period of alliance between the two 
kingdoms which lasted some thirty years. This 
alliance was cemented by the marriage of Ahab's 
daughter, Athaliah, to Jehoshaphat's son, Jeho- 
ram. The kingdom of Syria loomed on the hori- 
zon to the northeast of Israel, threatening both 
of the small kingdoms in Palestine and thus caus- 
ing them to band together for mutual defence. 



Judah, the Southern Kingdom. 189 

Renewed Hostility. — This alliance was brief, 
and during the remaining 169 years in which the 
two kingdoms stood side by side they were never 
afterw^ards in alHance. 

During 395 years in which Judah, the Southern 
kingdom, stood after her separation from the 
Northern tribes, kings of the house of David sat 
on the throne. While the history of Israel, the 
Northern kingdom, is blackened by revolution 
and by the frequent usurpation of the throne by 
assassination, there being no less than eight 
changes in the ruling family, Judah through all 
of her long history was ruled by descendants of 
David. 

The Reign of Rehoboam. 

We have already seen something of the char- 
acter of Rehoboam in connection with the divi- 
sion of the kingdom. A true son of Solomon 
his father, he multiplied the wives of his harem 
and encouraged such indulgences and excesses 
as weakened the military strength of his kingdom. 
Taking advantage of this fact Shishak, king of 
Egypt, brought up an armed force against Judah, 
taking certain fortified cities. Marching into 
Jerusalem itself, he despoiled the Temple of its 
richest treasures. 

Asa and Jehoshaphat. 

The reign of Asa is marked by the invasion of 
Zerah, an Ethiopian prince, who came up against 
Judah with a host of a million men and threatened 



190 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

to overrun and crush the whole land. Asa 
bravely marshalled his troops and, strong in faith, 
marched out and inflicted signal defeat upon the 
invaders. 

Jehoshaphat was a great and good king and 
under his reign the kingdom attained to a high 
degree of prosperity. Soon after coming to the 
throne, he organized a far-reaching campaign 
for the instruction of his people in the law of the 
Lord, and for this end he sent forth the Levites 
and even the princes throughout his realm. Even 
Jehoshaphat seems to have gone on a personal 
tour of the land calling upon his subjects to re- 
turn to the true worship of Jehovah. His chief 
weakness seems to have been in his inclination 
to enter alliances, such for example as that with 
Ahab, king of Israel, which alliances were for- 
bidden by the law of Moses. On his return from 
Ramoth-gilead, where he had assisted Ahab 
against the Syrians, he was rebuked by Jehu, a 
prophet of the Lord, for thus aiding the ungodly. 

JoASH Repairs the Temple. 

For six years Athaliah, a usurping queen, sat 
on the throne of Judah. When the people were 
disgusted by her cruelty and her foreign prac- 
tices, Jehoiada the high priest proclaimed Joash 
king, and had Athaliah slain. Under the guiding 
and restraining influence of Jehoiada, Joash 
reigned with moderation and did much to deepen 
in the hearts of the people reverence for divine 
things. 



Judah, the Southern Kingdom. 1Q1 

Among other reforms, he inaugurated a move- 
ment for the repair of the Temple, which had 
been allowed to fall into ruins during the idol- 
atrous reign of Athaliah. For this purpose he 
collected much money, which was freely given 
by the princes and the people. When his faith- 
ful friend and counselor died at an advanced age, 
the king turned his heart to idolatry and did much 
to corrupt the people. 

UzziAH Reigns Fifty-Two Years. 

Uzziah was an energetic and resourceful ruler ; 
by his wise administration of the affairs of the 
kingdom he restored in some measure the wealth 
and prosperity which existed in the days of David 
and Solomon. But the achievements of his earlier 
reign are shadowed by the folly and failure which 
marked his later years. Moved to pride by his 
prosperity, he forgot Jehovah and exalted his 
own will against the divine will. Assuming the 
function of the priests and essaying to burn in- 
cense on the golden altar in the sanctuary, he 
was smitten with leprosy and to the day of his 
death lived in a separate house apart from his 
court and people. 

The Apostasy Under Ahaz. 

Ahaz reigned sixteen years and did much to 
corrupt the people of his realm. Like Ahab in 
the Northern kingdom, he encouraged Baal-wor- 
ship and all manner of idolatry. He went be- 



192 ^^^ Testament Studies, 

yond all the wicked kings of Israel or Judah in 
that he burned his own children in sacrifice in 
the valley of Hinnom. When Judah was weak- 
ened by excesses and iniquities and Ahaz was 
sorely pressed by his enemies, he went to Da- 
mascus to meet his master Tiglath-pileser, but 
received scant sympathy from that monarch. 

Isaiah, in the seventh, eigth and ninth chapters 
of his prophecy, makes appeal to Ahaz and the 
people to fear Jehovah : ''To the law and to the 
testimony : if they speak not according to this 
word, it is because there is no light in them" 
(Isaiah 8: 20). In his refusal of the counsels 
of the great prophet, Ahaz stands in marked con- 
trast with Hezekiah who, in the face of Isaiah's 
denunciation and warning, humbled himself and 
cried unto the Lord. 

Hezekiah's Reign. 

A Good King, — In contrast with both the kings 
that went before and those that came after, Heze- 
kiah was a devout man and a wise ruler. In the 
sixth year of his reign Samaria fell and the peo- 
ple of Israel were carried away to Assyria. While 
the neighboring kingdom was thus in its death- 
throes, Hezekiah was, by his personal and official 
influence, restoring Jehovah worship in Judah 
and bringing about that revival of godliness 
which gave Judah a new lease on life and enabled 
that kingdom to stand yet many years. 

A Great Passover. — Sending his messengers 
throughout the realm, the king summoned all the 



Judah, the Southern Kingdom. I93 

people to assemble at Jerusalem for the obser- 
vance of the Passover, and in their zeal they pro- 
longed this feast to fourteen days. On their re- 
turn from this remarkable convocation in which 
both their faith and their zeal were quickened, the 
people destroyed in wide sections the idols and 
heathen altars which had been erected during pre- 
ceding reigns. In all of this the king was aided 
by the prophet Isaiah, of whom we shall see more 
in our next chapter. 

Sennacherib's Army Destroyed. — Moved doubt- 
less by Egyptian intrigue, Hezekiah rebelled 
against Assyria and refused to pay the tribute 
which Ahaz, his father, had promised. Already 
the Assyrians under Shalmaneser had reduced 
Samaria, and now Sennacherib, having come to 
the Assyrian throne, turned his attention toward 
Judah, and sent Hezekiah an insulting and threat- 
ening letter, demanding his surrender. In this 
hour of sore trial Hezekiah's faith did not fail. He 
spread the letter before the Lord in the Temple 
and besought the divine help. The prophet Isaiah 
declared that the haughty Assyrian should be mi- 
raculously smitten and should return broken and 
helpless to his own land. In one night, shortly 
after, a blast from the Lord slew 185,000 of Sen- 
nacherib's soldiers. 

"The angel of death spread his wings on the blast, 

And breathed on the face of the foe as he passed; 

And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill. 

And their hearts but once heaved and forever were 

still. 

13 



194 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

"And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide, 
But through it there rolled not the breath of his 

pride ; 
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf, 
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf." 

Hezekiah's Life Lengthened. — While Senna- 
cherib was threatening to invade Hezekiah's 
dominions, the Jewish king fell ill. His desire to 
recover was doubtless deepened by the thought 
of the sad plight in which his people would be 
left, and he cried to God for healing. The prophet 
Isaiah was sent to tell him that his prayer was 
heard and that fifteen years were to be added to 
his life. When Hezekiah asked for a token to con- 
firm this promise, the shadow on the great dial 
set up by his father, Ahaz, was made to go back- 
ward ten degrees. In accordance with the word 
of the prophet, a plaster of figs was applied to 
the affected parts, and the king was speedily re- 
stored to health. 

The news of Hezekiah's miraculous recovery 
went abroad to surrounding nations, and among 
others the king of Babylon, Merodach-baladan, 
sent an embassage to congratulate him. In a 
spirit of pride the king showed these messengers 
the stores and treasures of his kingdom. For 
this worldly spirit of ostentation Isaiah rebuked 
the king, declaring that one day all of these treas- 
ures should be carried away into the land of the 
king who had sent these messengers* 



Judah, the Southern Kingdom, 195 

The Prophet Isaiah. 

By reason of his personal character, his service 
to his nation, and especially his written prophe- 
cies, Isaiah holds a unique place among the He- 
brew prophets. 

The Prophet's Call, — In the sixth chapter of 
his prophecy, Isaiah tells in his own words the 
wonderful story of his call : 'In the year that 
King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a 
throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled 
the temple. Above him stood the seraphim : each 
one had six wings ; with twain he covered his 
face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with 
twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, 
and said, Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of hosts: 
the whole earth is full of his glory. And the 
foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice 
of him that cried, and the house was filled with 
smoke. Then said I, Woe is me ! for I am un- 
done ; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I 
dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips : for 
mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts. 
Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having 
a live coal in his hands, which he had taken with 
the tongs from off the altar; and he touched my 
mouth with it, and said, Lo, this hath touched 
thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and 
thy sin forgiven. And I heard the voice of the 
Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will 
go for us? Then I said. Here am I; send me. 
And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye in- 



J^96 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

deed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but 
perceive not'' (Isaiah 6: 1-9, R. V.). 

His Long Usefulness, — During the reigns of 
Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, through more than 
fifty years, Isaiah wielded a potent influence in 
the civil and religious life of Judah. Possessed 
of the highest culture, having free access to the 
kings and the ruling classes, Isaiah during critical 
times in the history of the kingdom stood bravely 
for the highest ideals of true religion and did 
much to stay the evil day which had long been 
predicted. The fall of Samaria occurred during 
his ministry, and the prophet used this provi- 
dence as the basis of warning and appeal to the 
kingdom of Judah. 

Outline of His Book. — The following outline 
of Isaiah's prophecy, given also in the New Nor- 
mal Manual, sets forth the divisions of the book : 

I. Prophecies touching Judah. (Chapters 1-39.) 

1. Warning and promise. (Chapters 1-12.) 

2. Concerning hostile nations. (Chapters 

13-35.) 

3. Jehovah delivers Plezekiah and Jerusa- 

lem. (Chapters 36-39.) 

II. Messianic prophecies. (Chapters 40-66.) 

1. God will deliver his people. (Chapters 

40-48.) 

2. God will send his servant (Messiah). 

(Chapters 49-57.) 

3. This Servant shall reign supreme and 

triumphant. (Chapters 58-66.) 



Judah, the Southern Kingdom, ^97 

QUESTIONS. 

What period of history are we now to study? 

What advantages did the Northern kingdom pos- 
sess? 
Indicate some advantages of the Southern kingdom. 

Set forth the relations which existed between the two 
kingdoms. 

What was the general character of Rehoboam's reign? 

What event signalized the reign of Asa? Describe the 
reign of Jehoshaphat. 

What event marked the reign of Joash? 

What w^as the length and the character of Uzziah's 
reign ? 

What was the character of Hezekiah's reign? 
Tell of the destruction of Sennacherib's army. 
Why, and for how many years, was Hezekiah's life 
lengthened? 

Describe Isaiah's call. 

Tell of his long career of usefulness. 



OULINES FOR CHAPTER XIII. 



JUDAH DRIFTING TO RUIN : 

FROM THE FALL OF SAMARIA TO THE FALL 

OF JERUSALEM. 

Scripture Record — 2 Chronicles, chapters 30-36. 
Selections for Reading and Study — 2 Chronicles 

30-36; Isaiah 1, 35, 43, 53, 55. 
Time— 722 to 587 B.C. 



Why Judah Continued. 

Loyalty to Jehovah. 
A Continuous Dynasty. 
Mercy to the House of Dayid. 



Manasseh's Reign (2 Kings 21; 2 Chronicles 33). 

A Wicked King. 
Manasseh's Captivity. 
Manasseh's Reformation. 



The Reign of Josiah (2 Kings 22, 23; 2 Chronicles 
34, 35). 

A Good King. 
Repairs the Temple. 
A Great Religious Revival. 
The Passover Observed. 
The Death of Josiah. 

Judah is Led Captive to Babylon. 

Zedekiah, Judah's Last King (2 Kings 24: 17— 

25: 7; 2 Chronicles 36: 10-21). 
Into Captivity. 
The Remnant in Jerusalem. 



(198) 



CHAPTER XIIL 



JUDAH DRIFTING TO RUIN : 

FROM THE FALL OF SAMARIA TO THE 

FALL OF JERUSALEM. 



After the fall of Samaria and the captivity of 
the Ten Tribes, Judah, the Southern kingdom, 
stood 135 years, maintaining a precarious and 
uncertain existence. This period, it will be noted, 
is about equal to the time which has passed since 
the American Revolution, which began in 1776. 

Why Judah Continued. 

Many causes contributed to the continuance 
of Judah after Israel had fallen. 

Loyalty to Jehovah, — Through all of her his- 
tory Judah had been more loyal to the law of 
Moses, while the revivals in the days of Asa and 
Jehoshaphat and under the leadership of Heze- 
kiah and Isaiah had done much to call the people 
back from idolatry to the true worship of Je- 
hovah. 

A Continuous Dynasty. — Kings of the house 
of David successively sat upon the throne of Ju- 
dah, while, as we have seen, in the Northern 
kingdom there was frequent intrigue and assassi- 
nation, resulting in nine different reigning fami- 

(199) 



200 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

lies. Many of the kings of Judah were wise ad- 
ministrators and earnest reformers, whereas not 
one of the nineteen kings who ruled Israel could 
be called a good king. 

Mercy to the House of David, — Apart from all 
other considerations, it was the frequently de- 
clared purpose of Jehovah to spare and bless Ju- 
dah for the sake of his servant David. God 
would preserve to himself and for purposes of 
his own a remnant, and Judah should be that 
remnant to fulfill his gracious ends. Israel, the 
Northern kingdom, fell in the sixth year of Heze- 
kiah, whose good and great reign we studied in 
our last chapter. After Hezekiah, and during the 
period which we are now to study, eight kings 
ruled over Judah. 

Manasseh's Reign. 

A Wicked King. — ^At the age of twelve Ma- 
nasseh came to the throne of Judah, succeeding 
his father Hezekiah. From the beginning of his 
reign he manifested such violent opposition to the 
pure worship of God and gave such encourage- 
ment to idolatry as causes him to stand in marked 
contrast with good king Hezekiah. Altars were 
erected to Baal and Ashtaroth throughout the 
realm and even in the sacred precincts of the tem- 
ple itself. Manasseh caused his children to pass 
through the fire to Moloch, the god of the Am- 
monites. We read that he ''used enchantments, 
and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar 
spirit, and with wizards" (2 Chronicles 33 : 6). 



Judah Drifting to Ruin, 201 

The prophets of God bore faithful testimony 
and rebuked the prevalent evils, but their voices 
were silenced by imprisonment and even by death, 
so that the streets of Jerusalem are said to have 
run with the blood of the righteous. The sins of 
Sodom and Gomorrah were introduced and the 
people sank to the low^est depths of moral de- 
generacy, so that the wickedness of the land is 
declared to have surpassed that of the original 
inhabitants whom Israel had dispossessed. 

ManasseKs Captivity, — These excesses brought 
their inevitable results; weakness in the govern- 
ment began to be manifest. The surrounding 
nations, Philistia, Moab and Ammon, rose against 
Judah, and the armies of Assyria invaded the 
land, captured Jerusalem and, loading Manasseh 
with chains, carried him away to Babylon. If 
surprise is felt in the fact that the Assyrian 
armies carried Manasseh to Babylon instead of 
Nineveh, the explanation lies in the fact that 
Esarhaddon had conquered Babylon and at times 
held his court there. 

Manasseh's Reformation, — In the loathsome 
dungeon of a foreign master, Manasseh had time 
to contrast his own wicked life and reign with 
the holy life and worthy rule of his father, Heze- 
kiah, and his meditations led him to repentance 
and reformation. His cries of confession were 
mercifully heard by the Lord, and Esarhaddon 
pardoned his past rebellion and, permitting him 
to return to Jerusalem, restored him to his throne. 
He showed the sincerity of his repentance by 



202 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

seeking to undo the evils of his earlier reign. 
Removing the heathen altars from the temple and 
reestablishing the worship of Jehovah, he sought 
to bring the people back to the high ground which 
they had occupied in the days of his father. He 
learned that it is easier to corrupt a people than 
to restore them to purity, and was disappointed 
to find that his efforts at reformation met with 
poor success. Amon, his son, walked in the 
wicked ways of his father's earlier years, and 
after two years his iniquitous rule was cut short 
by assassination. 

The Reign of Josiah. 

A Good King. — The conspirators who had slain 
Amon were themselves put to death, and the peo- 
ple placed his son, Josiah, a lad eight years of 
age, on the throne. This child came to be a wise 
king with a gracious and winsome personality, 
while in zeal for the law of Jehovah he exceeded 
all who had gone before. 

When he came to his twentieth year, this being 
the twelfth year of his reign, he inaugurated a 
far-reaching campaign for the destruction of 
idolatry and the restoration of Jehovah worship. 
Many reforms had been undertaken before, but 
this was more thorough and systematic than any 
other ever known in Judah. Having destroyed 
the idols and heathen altars in Jerusalem, the king 
went in person throughout the land, extending 
his journey through the territory of Ephraim and 
Manasseh and going as far as to Naphtali, every- 



Judah Drifting to Ruin. 203 

where destroying temples and groves of idolatry 
and admonishing the people to fear and serve 
God. 

Repairs the Temple, — The most significant 
event in Josiah's reign was the cleansing and re- 
pairing of the temple, which during the rule of 
his predecessors had been allowed to lapse into 
sad decay. For this purpose the king designated 
a company of influential men and authorized themx 
to gather extensive funds, giving them full 
authority to prosecute the great work. 

While rubbish was being removed and rooms 
long unused were being cleared, Hilkiah the high 
priest made a most important and startling dis- 
covery. During the persecutions of Manasseh 
and Amon there had been a widespread destruc- 
tion of existing copies of the book of Law, so that 
the written Law had all but perished. Hilkiah 
now found hidden away in the temple precincts 
a roll containing the Law, probably the book of 
Deuteronomy. It is difficult for us to realize the 
full meaning of this discovery. The Law was 
immediately read in the presence of the king, who 
trembled exceedingly for its denunciations of the 
sins prevalent throughout the nation, and for its 
prediction of national ruin if the people should 
forget God. 

A Great Religious Revival, — Stirred by the 
reading of the Law and perplexed as to its mean- 
ing, the high priest and other leaders sought 
counsel of Huldah, a prophetess, who dwelt in 
one of the sacred enclosures of the temple. She 



204 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

declared that the threatening judgments of Je- 
hovah would be surely visited upon the nation, 
though for the sake of Josiah who had sought the 
Lord the doom should not fall in his day. The 
king called a convocation of the people and or- 
dered that the divine word against idolatry should 
be publicly read. The people were conscience- 
smitten and in deepest penitence confessed their 
guilt, renounced idolatry, and entered a solemn 
covenant to worship henceforth the true God. 

The Passover Observed, — The three great 
annual feasts of the Jews were important factors 
in the religious life of the nation. At these sea- 
sons they presented themselves before the Lord 
and renewed their covenant vows. These feasts 
which had been neglected were now revived. 
Josiah proclaimed a national celebration of the 
Passover, and preparations were made for the ob- 
servance of that feast on a scale not known before 
since the days of Moses. 

The Death of Josiah, — The powerful king of 
Egypt, Pharaoh-necho, ambitious for foreign con- 
quest, martialled a strong army and marched 
against the king of Babylon, the fortress of 
Charchemish on the Euphrates being his first ob- 
ject of attack. With Josiah he had no quarrel, 
but asked peaceful passage through his domin- 
ions. For reasons difficult to discern, the king 
of Judah, in spite of the friendly protestations 
and warnings of the Egyptian king, assembled an 
army and offered battle on the plain of Esdraelon. 
Going into battle in disguise, Josiah was struck 



Judah Drifting to Ruin. 205 

by a chance arrow and died in his chariot while 
he was being driven to Jerusalem. His death was 
an irreparable blow to the struggHng kingdom 
of Judah, now beset with perils on every hand. 
Jeremiah, who entertained the warmest friend- 
ship for the king, wrote a lamentation for him, 
and the people mourned his death as a national 
loss. 

The death of Josiah virtually marks the end of 
the kingdom of Judah. During the twenty-two 
years that followed, four puppet kings, Jehoahaz, 
Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah, sat on the 
throne, though two of these reigned only three 
months each and the others were for the most 
part subject to foreign masters. Buffeted be- 
tween Egypt on the one hand and the mighty 
Chaldean empire on the other, the little kingdom 
of Judah was for a time sustained by the very 
jealousies of these warring nations. 

Judah is Led Captive to Babylon. 

Zedekiah, Judah' s Last King, — A son of Josiah, 
but possessing none of his nobler qualities, Zede- 
kiah was placed on the throne by Nebuchadrezzar 
and reigned eleven years. During the reigns of 
both Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin, Nebuchadrezzar 
had attacked Jerusalem, each time carrying cap- 
tive some of its people. When Zedekiah set up 
the standard of revolt, Nebuchadrezzar marched 
against Jerusalem ; but for a time he gave up the 
attempt to take the city. Returning later, he took 



206 



Old Testament Studies. 



the city, visiting dire punishment upon its people, 
and utterly destroying its walls, its Temple, and 
its public iDuildings. Zedekiah fled from the city, 
but was overtaken and captured in the Jordan 
valley. He was carried to Riblah to face his con- 
queror, and after he had witnessed the death of 




his sons, his eyes were put out and he was sent 
in chains to Babylon. 

Into Captivity. — The people, who a thousand 
years before had crossed the Jordan dry-shod and 
in faith and hope had conquered Canaan, now 
(587 B.C.) marched away in defeat and disgrace 
to taste the bitterness of exile. In 607 B.C. the 
Babylonians had conquered the Assyrian empire, 
capturing Nineveh, its capital. Thus it falls out 



Judah Drifting to Ruin. 207 

that while Israel was carried captive to Nineveh, 
Judah was taken to Babylon. The policy pursued 
by the Assyrians at the fall of Samaria was now 
followed by the Babylonians at the fall of Jeru- 
salem. A poor remnant was left to till the soil 
and occupy the land. 

The Remnant in Jerusalem, — In our further 
studies we will follow the destinies of the people 
who were carried captive to Babylonia. Over 
the remnant left in Judah, Gedaliah was ap- 
pointed governor, and Jeremiah, in true patriotic 
spirit, chose to remain in the land that he might 
aid the governor and comfort the people. Later, 
contrary to the counsel of Jeremiah, the people 
went down in a body into Egypt, thus leaving 
Jerusalem and the surrounding country a desolate 
ruin. 



208 ^^^ Testament Studies, 



QUESTIONS. 

Give an outline of Old Testament history to the fall 
of Samaria. 
How long did the Southern kingdom stand after 
the fall of the Northern kingdom? 

State some reasons why Judah continued after the 
fall of Israel. 

Describe Manasseh's Reign. 

What was the character of the last days of his 
reign? 

Indicate the character of Josiah's reign. 

What significant event marked Josiah's reign? 

What led to the religious revival of Josiah's day? 

Tell of a Passover celebrated during his reign. 

How did Josiah come to his death? 

Tell something of the last days of Judah. 

Describe the last days of Zedekiah and tell of his 
death. 

How long did the chosen people live in Canaan? 
Give the date and indicate the location of the cap- 
tivity of Judah. 



OUTLINES FOR CHAPTER XIV. 



THE CAPTIVITY OF JUDAH. 

Scripture Record — 2 Chronicles, chapter 36. 
Selections for Reading and Study — 2 Chronicles 36 ; 

Ezekiel 1-3; Daniel 1-6. 
Time — From the First Deportation to the Return 

under Zerubbabel, 605 to 538 B.C. 



Three Successh^ Deportations. 

The Prophet Jeremiah. 

Jeremiah and Josiah. 
The Weeping Prophet. 
Remains in Jerusalem. 
Goes into Egypt. 

The Dispersion of the Jews. 

The Jews in Captivity. 

The Prophet Ezekiel. 

The Prophet Daniel. 

Refuses the King's Wine and Meat. 
Interprets Nebuchadrezzar's Dream. 
Interprets Belshazzar's Vision. 
Cast into a Den of Lions. 

The Story of Esther. 

Benefits of the Captivity. 

Idolatry Destroyed. 

The Rise of the Synagogue. 

A Deepened Respect for the Law of Moses. 

A Longing for the Messiah. 

14 (209) 



CHAPTER XIV. 



THE CAPTIVITY OF JUDAH. 



The history of Israel, the Northern kingdom, 
ends with the destruction of Samaria by the As- 
syrians and the carrying away of the people to 
the regions about Nineveh. Scattered among 
kindred Semitic peoples, they seem to have min- 
gled with their neighbors, and thus became sub- 
merged among the races round about. It was 
not so with the people of Judah. Even in cap- 
tivity they carefully preserved their genealogies 
and cherished the hope of a return to the land of 
their fathers. 

Three Successwe Deportations. — The people of 
Judah were carried away in three separate com- 
panies. 

(i) In 605 B.C., Nebuchadrezzar, acting as 
captain under his father, Nabopolassar, king of 
Babylon, following up the victory over the Egyp- 
tians at the battle of Charchemish, marched his 
armies through Syria into Palestine. Appearing 
before Jerusalem he took the city, but for the 
time refrained from its destruction. To appease 
his wrath, and as an assurance of future submis- 
sion, certain royal princes, Daniel, Shadrach, 
Meshach and Abed-nego, along with a company 
(210) 



The Captivity of Judah. 211 

of other important personages, were given over 
to the invading king to be carried away to Baby- 
lon. 

(2) In 598 B.C. Nebuchadrezzar, now king of 
Babylon, returned and stormed Jerusalem, carry- 
ing away another company of captives, among 
whom was Ezekiel, destined to become as priest 
and prophet the comforter of the exiles in their 
lonely sojourn in Babylonia. 

(3) The samiC conqueror returned, this time 
destroying Jerusalem with terrible slaughter and 
carrying away practically all of its people to 
Babylon, 587 B.C. 

The Prophet Jeremiah. 

Jeremiah and Josiah. — Called to be a prophet 
in the thirteenth year of Josiah, Jeremiah became 
the close friend and the faithful counselor of that 
good king. There can be no doubt that the far- 
reaching reforms undertaken by Josiah were in- 
spired and guided by the great prophet. His 
earnest warnings and loving instructions deliv- 
ered to the people must have strengthened the 
king in all of his reforming work. When the 
valiant young king, loyal to his Assyrian ally, 
marched out against Pharaoh-necho and was 
slain in the battle of Megiddo, being brought 
back to Jerusalem dead in his own chariot, the 
prophet composed an elegy in his honor and 
along with all Israel wept for his death. To both 
Jeremiah and the nation the death of Josiah, the 



212 Old Testament Studies. 

reforming king, at the height of his glorious 
career, was a heavy blow. His godly influence 
and wise rule were sadly needed. 

The Weeping Prophet. — Three of Josiah's sons 
reigned successively in Jerusalem, but they were 
mere puppets in the strong hands of their Egyp- 
tian or Babylonian masters, and the people were 
in a sad state. This sadness entered deep into 
the soul of Jeremiah : ''Oh, that my head were 
waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I 
might weep day and night for the slain of the 
daughter of my people!'' (Jeremiah 9: i). 

''Almost single-handed for the long period of 
above twenty years, the gentle and timid Jere- 
miah, strong in a higher strength, stood forth 
for the Lord in opposition to the united power 
and fury of kings, princes and priests in Jerusa- 
lem. In his communings with God we have 
glimpses of the dreadful expense of personal suf- 
fering at which this conflict was maintained by 
him ; but in public, whether in prison or at large, 
in the palace or in the Temple, we never see him 
flinch from uttering the stern message committed 
to him'' (Blaikie, in "Manual of Bible History"). 

Remains in Jerusalem. — When Jerusalem had 
fallen and the people were borne into captivity, 
Jeremiah was given the privilege of choice as to 
whether he should go with the captives or re- 
main with the remnant in Palestine. Choosing 
to remain, he continued to exercise his ministry, 
faithfully declaring the word of Jehovah and 



The Captivity of Jndah. 213 

plainly declaring that the exiles should return 
and that Jerusalem should be restored. By his 
plainness of speech he frequently offended his 
hearers and often suffered severe persecution at 
their hands. By the figure of two baskets of figs, 
one with good ripe figs and one with bad figs, so 
bad that they could not be eaten, he illustrated 
his unwelcome assertion that the exiles who had 
gone away were better and more worthy than 
those who remained behind. 

Goes into Egypt. — When the remnant in tlie 
land decided, against the advice of Jeremiah, to 
go down to dwell in Egypt, the prophet accom- 
panied them and shared their destinies. True to 
the principles of his long life, he pleaded with 
the people in Egypt to turn from their idolatries 
and serve Jehovah. Rejecting his admonitions, 
they declared that they fared better when they 
worshiped the goddess of heaven than when they 
served the Lord. The close of his life is wrapped 
in obscurity, though a Jewish tradition declares 
that he was stoned by his own people. 

The Dispersion of the Jews. 

History records the removal of many nations 
from their native country, but we have no record 
of any other people being so completely driven 
out and so widely scattered as the Jews. Al- 
ready we have seen the Northern tribes scattered 
throughout the regions about Nineveh; now we 
have the best people of Judah taken to Babylon, 
and to complete the desolation of the land even 



214 ^^^ Testament Studies, 

the poor remnant removes to Egypt. All of this 
had been long predicted by their prophets, who 
declared that their reverses would be the result 
of their sins and idolatries. 

The Jews in Captivity. 

Colonists Rather Than Bondmen. — The Baby- 
lonian kings were not so fierce and cruel as those 
of Assyria, and hence we find their dealing with 
captive nations marked by greater mildness. In- 
deed, the word bondage seems quite too strong 
in view of the freedom and prosperity which the 
people evidently enjoyed. Jeremiah had sent the 
exiles a letter in which he predicted that they 
should not immediately return as they hoped, but 
that the captivity should last seventy years. Under 
these conditions he brought word from Jehovah : 
''Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant 
gardens, and eat the fruit of them ; take ye wives, 
and beget sons and daughters; take wives for 
your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, 
that they may bear sons and daughters, that ye 
may be increased there, and not diminished'' 
(Jeremiah 29: 5 6). 

Grow in Wealth, — In the rich valley of the 
Euphrates, in the midst of a vigorous commercial 
people, the Jews, as they are henceforth known 
from the word Judah, enter upon a life of peace 
and growing wealth. The aptness for trading 
which has ever since marked these people doubt- 
less first began to develop when they left the 
agricultural life of their own highland home and 



The Captivity of Judah. 215 

entered upon the contests and opportunities of 
their new home in Babylon. They have their 
own rulers and are governed by their own laws ; 
they own property and engage freely in all man- 
ner of traffic; they furnish officers for high state 
positions, as, for example, Daniel, Mordecai and 
Nehemiah. They seem to have remained together, 
a state within a state, or at least to have main- 
tained their separateness in distinct communities. 

The Prophet Ezekiel. 

Jehovah did not leave himself in these dark days 
without witness of his presence and of his merci- 
ful purposes for his people. The chief peril to 
which the people were now exposed was that they 
should lapse into the religious and moral customs 
of the people round about and thus become 
merged with the neighboring peoples. This- peril 
was the greater because the Babylonians brought 
their religion into all the affairs of daily life, as- 
sociating their gods with every business transac- 
tion. In view of this peril God sent prophets who 
with the utmost earnestness warned and in- 
structed the people. 

Chiefest among these prophets was Ezekiel, 
who as we have seen was carried away in the 
second deportation. Living on the river Chebar, 
probably some distance to the northwest of Baby- 
lon, he attained high position and wielded wide in- 
fluence among his fellow captives. His home be- 
came a center for the leaders among the Jews. 
Thither they came from various quarters to hear 



216 ^^^ Testament Studies, 

the priest-prophet declare the things of the Lord 
and to commune together concerning the affairs 
of their people. wShortly after the word came 
from Jeremiah that the captivity war to be pro- 
longed, Ezekiel began to warn and comfort the 
people with his prophetic visions. 

His earlier messages were largely denuncia- 
tions of Egypt and Tyre, nations which had been 
bitter and oppressive toward the chosen people. 
They are the words of a patriot whose soul burned 
with shame and resentment for the woes and 
wrongs of his people. His later messages were 
full of gracious comfort, cheering the people with 
the hope of restoration to their own land. ''His 
sun, like that of Isaiah, went down pouring on 
Jews and Gentiles the golden luster of Messiah's 
reign.'' 

The Prophet Daniel. 

Going out with the first deportation, Daniel, 
who was of royal blood and royal spirit, arose 
to great eminence both among his own people and 
at the court of Babylon. Four incidents in the 
career of Daniel are among the most familiar of 
Bible stories. 

Refuses the King's Wine and Meat, — His re- 
fusal as a youth, along with his companions, "to 
defile himself with the portion of the king's meat 
which he did eat and the wine which he did drink," 
constitutes a fine illustration of youthful courage. 
Being permitted to live for ten days on pulse and 
water, he and his companions, under the blessing 
of God, appeared fairer and better than all the 



The Captivity of Judah, 217 

other royal youths. ''And in all matters of wis- 
dom and understanding, that the king inquired of 
them, he found them ten times better than all the 
magicians a^.d astrologers that were all in his 
realm'' (Daniel i: 20). 

Interprets Nebuchadrezzar s Dream. — When 
the king dreamed, and was unable even to recall 
his dream, he demanded of his astrologers that 
they should tell the dream and declare its inter- 
pretation. In view of their high pretensions the 
demand was not unreasonable. When they were 
unable to declare the dream and all the wise men 
of the realm, including Daniel and his compan- 
ions, were about to be slain, Daniel went boldly 
in unto the king and requested that a time should 
be appointed, assuring the king that he would 
give the interpretation of the dream. After a 
season of prayer he came into the king's presence 
and told not only the dream but its meaning, and 
that in such simple, straightforward language 
that the king was deeply impressed and fully con- 
vinced. 

Acting on a generous impulse the king wor- 
shiped Daniel and commanded the people to offer 
to him sacrifice and sweet odors. Daniel was 
made governor of the whole province of Baby- 
lon, and at his request his three friends were 
given places of honor and distinction in the gov- 
ernment. 

Interprets Belshazzar's Vision, — While Bel- 
shazzar feasted a thousand of his lords and drank 
wine with them, there came the fingers of a man's 



218 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

hand and traced certain words on the wall of the 
king's palace. When the enchanters of the realm 
could not read the writing, at the suggestion of 
the queen, Daniel was called in before the king 
and his lords. Spurning the proffered gifts of the 
king, he declared the meaning of the strange 
words : 

Mene: God has numbered thy kingdom and 

brought it to an end. 
Tekel : Thou art weighed in the balances and 

art found wanting. 
Peres : Thy kingdom is divided and given to 

the Medes and Persians. 

In that same night, Belshazzar was slain and 
Babylon fell into the hands of Darius the Mede. 
Under the new king, Daniel seems to have con- 
tinued to hold his high place in the government. 

Cast into a Den of Lions. — His persistence in 
prayer and his consequent experience of being 
cast into the den of lions constitutes one of the 
most thrilling incidents of Bible history. Agree- 
ing that they could find no occasion against Daniel 
save in the matter of his religion, his enemies 
sought a decree from the king that whoever for 
thirty days should kneel before any god save the 
king, should be put to death. 

Going into his house and opening his windows 
toward Jerusalem, Daniel knelt three times a day 
and prayed and gave thanks to Jehovah. The 
king was distressed and sought to deliver him, 
but on the demand of his enemies Daniel was 



The Captivity of Judah. 219 

cast into the den of lions, with the cheering words 
from the king, 'Thy God whom thou servest con- 
tinually, he will deliver thee/' Coming next 
morning, the king found that Jehovah had indeed 
delivered his trusting servant. 

Daniel lived to an advanced age and, to the 
end of his life, held high position and wielded 
wide influence. It is not impossible that he may 
have influenced Cyrus to issue the decree which 
permitted the Jews to return to Palestine. Car- 
ried away with the first captivity, Daniel lived to 
see the people return to their native land. Ezekiel 
and Daniel were contemporaries and their 
prophecies are alike marked by much that is mys- 
terious and difficult of interpretation. Ezekiel 
was of priestly lineage, while Daniel was of royal 
blood. Ezekiel lived among his own people, 
wielding the influence of preacher and pastor, 
while Daniel lived at court and mightily influ- 
enced the ruling classes. 

The Story of Esther. 

The exact date of the book of Esther is un- 
certain, but the incidents which it records oc- 
curred during the exile and they shed light on 
the condition of the Jews in the days of their 
captivity. Mordecai, a Jew, had attained a posi- 
tion of influence at court and Esther, his niece, 
a beautiful Jewish maiden, had become queen. 
Haman hated Mordecai and sought in conse- 
quence to destroy the whole Jewish race. 
Through the brave intercession of Esther, the plot 



220 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

of Haman, which had all but succeeded, was re 
vealed to the king, who hung Haman and saved 
the Jews. This deliverance was afterward com- 
memorated by the joyous feast of Purim. The 
edict of the king indicates that the Jews had, at 
that time, scattered throughout all the one hun- 
dred and twenty provinces of the realm. 

Before we pass to a consideration of the return 
of the Jews to Jerusalem, we must pause to con- 
sider some 

Benefits of the Captivity. 

Among these may be mentioned : 

Idolatry Destroyed. — The tendency to idolatry 
seems to have been completely destroyed. Since 
the founding of the nation fifteen hundred years 
before, there had been a strangely persistent ten- 
dency to lapse into idolatry. During all of this 
time it is doubtful whether the race was ever 
wholly free from the taint of idolatry. During 
the captivity the people were completely purged 
of this evil tendency, and from the time of their 
return to Jerusalem they were uncompromising 
monotheists. 

The Rise of the Synagogue. — In the captivity, 
separated from their Temple and deprived of 
their national feasts and worship, the people de- 
veloped the custom of assembhng for the reading 
of the Law of Moses and for prayer and fellow- 
ship. These simple gatherings seem to have 
given rise to the synagogue which played so im- 
portant a part in all their after history. 



The Captivity of Judah. 221 

A Deepened Respect for the Law of Moses, — 
In the midst of heathen rites and customs, sur- 
rounded by a race which, as their conquerors, 
felt a sense of superiority, they found themselves 
compelled, in self-defense and in the interest of 
national preservation to be loyal to their own laws 
and religion and to faithfully teach these to their 
children. Thus was developed that reverence for 
the Law which in our Lord's time had degen- 
erated into legalism and formalism. 

A Longing for the Messiah, — In the midst of 
their reverses and sufferings, the people were led 
to look earnestly for the long-promised Messiah, 
who should deliver them from their distresses and 
restore, as they supposed, their national glory. 
Crude as were their thoughts of the Coming One, 
it was yet good that their eyes should turn to the 
promises and that they should look and wait for 
his coming. 

QUESTIONS. 

What became of the people of the Northern kingdom 
after they were carried to Nineveh? 

Tell of the three separate companies in which the peo- 
ple of Judah were carried away. 

Indicate some important events in the life of Jeremiah. 

Tell of the Dispersion of the Jews. 

Describe the condition of the Jews in captivity. 

Tell something of the life and labors of Ezekiel. 

Relate some incidents in the career of Daniel. 

Give the leading events in the story of Esther. 

State some benefits which resulted from the captivity. 



OUTLINES FOR CHAPTER XV. 



THE RESTORATION. 

Scripture Record — Ezra, Nehemiah. 

Selections for Reading and Study — Ezra 1, 5, 6, 10 ; 
Nehemiah 1, 2, 4 ; Haggai 1 ; Zechariah 14 ; 
Malachi 4. 

Time — The Decree of Cyrus to the Close of Old 
Testament History, 538 to 391 B.C. 



Prophecies of Return. 

The Mission of the Prophets. 

The Decree of Cyrus. 

Return Under Zerubbabel. 

Rebuilding the Temple. 

Haggai and Zechariah. 

Ezra Returns and Works Reforms. 

Nehemiah Rebuilds the Walls. 

Malachi and His Message. 

The Four Hundred Silent Years. 

Under the Persians (to 331 B.C.). 
Under the Greek Kings (aSl to 167 B.C.). 
Independent (167 to 63 B.C.). 

Under the Romans (63 B.C. through New Testa- 
ment Times). 

StagIcs in Divine Revelation. 
(222) 



CHAPTER XV. 



THE RESTORATION. 



Rightly interpreted we may find God, his 
providence and purpose, in all history; but God 
chose to reveal himself in a peculiar way in the 
history of the Hebrew people. The Scriptures re- 
late the history for the purpose of setting forth 
God's revelation of himself and his unfolding 
plan of redemption. It has been already sug- 
gested that this purpose of Scripture accounts for 
the fullness of the record at certain stages and 
for long silences at other stages. Thus between 
the captivity whose record we studied in the last 
chapter and the return of the Jews to Jerusalem, 
which we are now to study, a period of more than 
half a century, we have from the sacred annalists 
only one incident, the release of King Jehoiachin 
from prison in Babylon and his elevation to a 
position of respect. 

Prophecies of Return. 

Even before the fall of Jerusalem, Isaiah and 
Ezekiel had prophesied that the city should fall 
and had predicted that its exiled people would 
return to rebuild the fallen city. During the 
long years of captivity Jeremiah and Ezekiel, be- 

(223) 



224 



Old Testament Studies, 



sides other prophets, had with earnestness and 
clearness foretold that the people should return; 
this message was the burden of their ministry 
and the basis of their appeal. These predictions 



THE //^osijon/ 

RESTORATION/ 




i!^ 



kept alive faith and hope in the hearts of the 
the people, and were an important factor in bring- 
ing about their own fulfillment. The prophets 
revived also among the people of the dispersion 
the memory of the glorious history of the Hebrew 
nation, of the promises and purposes of Jehovah, 



The Restoration. 225 

and held before them bright visions of the part 
which Israel was to play in the unfolding pur- 
pose of God. 

If we are to take literally Jeremiah's prediction 
of a captivity of seventy years (Jeremiah 25 : 12), 
these figures may be obtained as follows : Solo- 
mon's temple destroyed 587, the second temple 
completed 517, seventy years. 

The Mission of the Prophets. 

Having mentioned these predictions we pause 
to say that prophecy was rather forth-telling than 
fore-telling. The prediction of future events, 
which figures so largely in the popular conception 
of prophecy, was really a small part of the work 
of the prophets. These men of prayer and faith, 
inspired and guided by the Spirit of God, studied 
the trend of public afifairs, instructed the king and 
the people in the ways of Jehovah, and, like faith- 
ful pastors in our own day, sought to interpret 
God and his providences and to draw the people 
from their wandering to the service and worship 
of Jehovah. 

The Decree of Cyrus. 

''Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Per- 
sia, that the word of Jehovah by the mouth of 
Jeremiah might be accomplished, Jehovah stirred 
up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he 
made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, 
and put it also in writing, saying. Thus saith 
Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the 

15 



226 ^^^ Testament Studies, 

earth hath Jehovah, the God of heaven, given me ; 
and he hath charged me to build him a house in 
Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever there 
is among you of all his people, his God be with 
him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is 
in Judah, and build the house of Jehovah, the 
God of Israel (he is God), which is in Jerusalem" 
(Ezra 1 : 1-3). 

Vast empires were falling to pieces, greater 
kingdoms were being built on their ruins, and the 
whole world was in a state of unrest. Cyrus, 
king of Anshan, a small country lying to the 
northeast of Babylon, extended his rule over sur- 
rounding countries until at last he became master 
of Babylon and established himself in the most 
extensive and the most splendid kingdom the 
world had ever known. In the midst of these 
world-movements the God of Israel, mindful of 
his covenant with his people and of his promises 
to preserve and bless them, was ordering all 
things after the counsel of his own will. Accord- 
ing to the word spoken by Isaiah 150 years be- 
fore, when he called Cyrus by name and predicted 
that he should restore the captive people of God 
to their own land, Cyrus became master of the 
Medo-Persian empire, which embraced in its ter- 
ritory practically all of the known world. 

It was this Cyrus who issued the decree given 
above, permitting and encouraging the Jews to 
return and rebuild their city and their Temple. 
It is not improbable, as has already been sug- 
gested, that the prophet Daniel, who was still 



The Restoration. 227 

living and doubtless held high position at court, 
may have influenced Cyrus to issue this decree. 
''It is hardly a stretch of fancy to imagine an in- 
terview between him and the venerable Hebrew 
prophet who had risen so high in the councils of 
the Babylonian kings. We may easily suppose 
Daniel, after being presented to Cyrus, opening 
the book of the prophet Isaiah, and ,reading to 
the king the first few verses of the forty-fifth 
chapter. Great must have been the astonishment 
of Cyrus to find himself mentioned by name in 
that old Hebrew document, described as God's 
appointed instrument for setting his people free" 
(Blaikie, in ''Manual of Bible History''). 

In order to aid and encourage the people Cyrus 
restored the sacred vessels which Nebuchadrez- 
zar had taken from the Temple, and gave orders 
to the governors along the way to lend them pro- 
tection. As there were three separate deporta- 
tions, so there were three separate detachments 
which returned, a first under Zerubbabel, a sec- 
ond eighty years later under Ezra, and yet a third 
under Nehemiah. 

Return- Under Zerubbabel. 

It is assumed that Daniel, now an old man, 
deemed it wise to remain at his post in the Per- 
sian court. Zerubbabel was chosen to lead back 
to Jerusalem the fifty thousand people who chose 
to return. From the fact that the larger number 
of those who returned belonged to the tribe of 
Judah, the people, as we have noted, came to be 



228 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

known as the Jews, It will be borne in mind 
that those who embraced the opportunity to re- 
turn comprised probably only a small proportion 
of the total number of the chosen people. Those 
who were the more religious and patriotic would, 
of course, be eager to have part in an expedition 
which promised a restoration of the national life. 
Four months were required for the long journey 
of six hundred and fifty miles. 

Rebuilding the Temple. 

It is significant that the returning exiles gave 
early attention to the rebuilding of their ruined 
Temple. As the work proceeded the Samaritans 
came and offered their assistance. Mixed mo- 
tives prompted their offer, and the elders of the 
Jews probably felt that they could not in good 
conscience receive assistance from these semi- 
heathen neighbors, and hence their proffers of 
help were refused. Denied a part in the enter- 
prise, the Samaritans began a long series of mis- 
representations and intrigues by which they 
sought to have the Persian kings withdraw con- 
sent for the rebuilding of the Temple in the city. 
These efforts they continued with more or less 
success during the reign of Cyrus and of his suc- 
cessors, Cambyses and Smerdis. 

In this connection it is interesting to consider 
the motives which may have prompted Cyrus in 
the encouragement he gave to the Jews, who must 
have been desirable citizens, to leave Babylon to 
return to that land of their fathers. In Ezra i : i 



The Restoration. 229 

we have two explanations of Cyrus' course : ( i ) 
That the word of the Lord by the mouth of the 
prophet might be fulfilled; (2) the Lord stirred 
up the heart of Cyrus, king of Persia. Further 
light may be shed on the problem by the fact that 
Cyrus was planning the conquest of Egypt and 
that for this purpose he needed to have in Pales- 
tine, which lay along the way to Egypt, a friendly 
people who would further his military plans. 

Haggai and Zechariah. 

These prophets ministered during the reign of 
Zerubbabel in the days when the second Temple 
was building. When the people grew lax in their 
efforts to build the Temple and turned aside to 
build houses for themselves, Haggai rebuked their 
indifference and exhorted them to action. He de- 
clared that the drought and adversity which had 
come upon the land was the punishment of Je- 
hovah for their sloth and self-indulgence. 'Ts it 
a time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled 
houses, and this house lie waste? . . . Thus 
saith the Lord of hosts ; Consider your ways. Go 
up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build 
the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I 
will be glorified, saith the Lord'' (Haggai i : 

4-8). 

Zechariah joined forces with Haggai and to- 
gether they rebuked and entreated the people, 
urging that the house of Jehovah should be 
pushed to completion. 'Thus saith the Lord of 



230 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, 
and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts" 
(Zechariah 1:3). 

Twenty years after the work was begun the 
new Temple, which from its builder has since 
been known as Zerubbabel's Temple, was com- 
pleted. Its dedication, like the dedication of the 
former Temple, marked a significant epoch in 
the history of Israel. The older men who recalled 
the wealth and glory of the former structure wept 
for the inferiority of this, while the younger men 
rejoiced as they looked upon the consummation 
of their labors. 

Ezra Returns and Works Reforms. 

Almost eighty years after Zerubbabel and his 
company of 50,000 had made their journey to 
Jerusalem, Ezra, with about 6,000 persons, left 
Babylon (458 B.C.) to reenforce and encourage 
his struggling countrymen. He found a sadly dis- 
organized and demoralized state. The law of 
Moses had fallen into neglect, the poor were 
ground down by their more fortunate brethren, 
and the people were mingling and even inter- 
marrying among their heathen neighbors. 

Ezra set himself to work needed reforms and 
did much to bring the people back to purer living 
and to higher ideals in worship. Ezra is thought 
to have made a collection of the inspired books 
and fixed the canon of Scripture very much as it 
has come down to us. Trained as a priest and 



The Restoration. 231 

deeply taught in the law of the Lord, he pos- 
sessed special qualifications for this important 
task. 

Nehemiah Rebuilds the Walls. 

A character of singular simplicity and beauty, 
Nehemiah stands out in distinctness among the 
men of his day. Learning of the wretched con- 
dition of the Lord's people in Jerusalem, he se- 
cured permission from King Artaxerxes (445 
B.C.), at whose court in Shushan he held high 
position, to go and rebuild the walls of the city. 
Pressing the work with courage and vigor, he 
had the joy after fifty-two days of seeing the 
walls stand complete. Some twelve years later, 
returning again from the court of Persia, Nehe- 
miah wrought important reforms, cleansing the 
Temple, demanding the tithe for the maintenance 
of the Levites and forbidding the desecration of 
the Sabbath. 

Malachi and His Message. 

The last prophet of the Old Testament, like the 
many who had gone before, denounced the follies 
and abuses of his day, especially laxity in the mar- 
riage relation, slothfulness in the service of God, 
and slackness in offerings to God. ''Bring ye 
the whole tithe into the store-house, that there 
may be food in my house, and prove me now here- 
with, saith Jehovah of hosts, if I will not open 
you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a 
blessing, that there shall not be room enough to 



232 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

receive it" (Malachi 3: 10). The closing words 
of his prophecy constitute a fitting close of the 
Old Testament Scriptures, ''Remember ye the 
law of Moses my servant, which J jmmanded 
unto him in Horeb for all Israel, even statutes 
and ordinances. Behold, I will send you Elijah 
the prophet before the great and terrible day of 
Jehovah come. And he shall turn the heart of 
the fathers to the children, and the heart of the 
children to their fathers ; lest I come and smite 
the earth with a curse'' (Malachi 4: 4-6). 



The Four Hundred Silent Years. 

We have now come to the close of Old Testa- 
ment history and prophecy. Between the two 
Testaments is a period of some 400 years, dur- 
ing which we have no inspired records, though 
from secular sources we can trace the history of 
the chosen people on down to the coming of the 
Messiah. 

Under the Persians. — The Jews remained un- 
der the rule of the Persian kings who had per- 
mitted their return, until 331 B.C., when Alex- 
ander the Great knocked to pieces the loosely- 
organized empire of the Persians and inaugu- 
rated the era of Grecian triumph and glory. 

Under the Greek Kings, — Passing under the 
rule of the Greek kings, Palestine became per- 
meated with the spirit of Greek learning and 
philosophy. The Greek language came to be 



The Restoration. 233 

widely used and in order to meet a growing de- 
mand for the Scriptures in the Greek tongue, the 
Septuagint translation was made in Alexandria 
about 28:' ^.C. 

Independent. — In 167 B.C., when Antiochus 
Epiphanes had oppressed the Jews and exas- 
perated them by his foolish excesses, Judas Mac- 
cabeus led a successful revolt and the people 
threw off the foreign yoke and set up their own 
government. For a hundred years they enjoyed 
rulers descended from the house of David and 
under the strong leadership of these native rulers 
they attained to something of the wealth and 
splendor which had marked the golden days of 
the united kingdom. 

Under the Romans. — In 63 B.C., the Romans 
under Pompey overran Palestine, conquering 
Jerusalem and bringing the Jews under the power 
of the Romans. In 37 B.C. Herod the Great be- 
came, by the grace of the Roman emperor, the 
ruler of Palestine, and while he was yet king the 
Christ was born in Bethlehem. 



Stages in Divine Revelation. 

We began our studies with the statement that 
Bible history traces the dealings of God with 
men and brings us in gradual unfolding both 
revelation and redemption. In closing these 
studies we pause to consider the somewhat clearly 
marked steps of progress in this revelation. 



234 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

Before Abraham's Day. — In this dim period 
men show the effect of the divine law originally 
written in their hearts. The revelation of this 
time developed chiefly the tracings and lingerings 
of the impress of God imparted in creation and 
in connection with the fall. To this original 
knowledge, some additions were made in connec- 
tion with the murder of Abel, the flood, and the 
confusion of tongues. 

Men knew God as creator; they had the law 
of the family; they had the Sabbath; they knew 
the principles of both sacrifice and worship ; they 
held memories of original exalted purity, cherish- 
ing the innocence of Adam and Even in their 
first estate. This period produced Enoch, who 
walked with God and was not, for God took him, 
and Noah who was perfect in his generation. 
And yet men walked in darkness, and even the 
men who sought God had poor and inadequate 
conceptions of the divine Being. 

In Abraham's Day. — The revelations granted 
Abraham may fairly be said to mark a distinct 
stage of progress in the unfolding plan of revela- 
tion and redemption. To Abraham God made 
fuller revelation of himself than he had before 
made, speaking repeatedly with Abraham face to 
face and claiming him as ''the friend of God."" In 
Abraham God began the special movement 
toward redemption which found its fulfillment 
in the death of the incarnate Son on the cross. 

In claiming Abraham and his descendants for 
himself as a peculiar people, God declares that 



The Restoration. 235 

hidden in this choice is a motive of mercy to all 
nations. This is twice emphasized in God's call 
to Abraham. Abraham fully recognized God's 
relation to the whole race; when he made plea 
for the cities of the Plain this significant word 
rises to his lips : ''Shall not the Judge of all the 
earth do right?'' 

In Abraham's conception of God these things 
stand out in distinctness : 

(i) Personality. God talked with Abraham 
face to face and in many ways clearly indicated 
that he was a person. 

(2) Spirituality. While the divine Being con- 
descends to meet the conditions and limitations of 
his servant, he yet leaves the impression that he 
is a spirit. 

(3) Sovereignty. As shown in his choice of a 
man and a race among all the races of the world ; 
and, incidentally, by his unexplained demand 
upon Abraham for the sacrifice of his son Isaac. 

(4) Justice. This was basal in Abraham's 
thought of God as is indicated by his plea, ''Shall 
not the Judge of all the earth do right ?" 

(5) Mercy. God chose a man and created a 
race that through that race he might show mercy 
to all races. 

(6) Providence. In his relations with Abra- 
ham, in his guidance and protection of his serv- 
ant, in his dealings with Pharaoh in Egypt and 
with Lot in connection with the cities of the Plain, 
God's universal care and control are clearly in- 
dicated. 



236 ^^^ Testament Studies, 

In Moses' Day, — The revelation of Abraham's 
day was made to a man or at most to a family; 
the revelation of Moses' day was made to a na- 
tion. Revelation is thus seen to be progressive 
and cumulative. Each stage of advance embraces 
all that went before, making further addditions. 
As the revelation to Abraham showed advance 
upon all that had gone before, so the revelation 
of Moses' day marks distinct progress. Gather- 
ing up all that had been revealed to Abraham, 
Moses and the men of his day went further in 
their conception of God, reaching high planes of 
reverence and worship. When Israel crossed the . 
Jordan into Canaan, they brought with them the 
writings of Moses ; they brought the wonderful 
visions and revelations of Mt. Sinai ; they brought 
the tabernacle with its altar and its ark; they 
brought a nation-wide knowledge of the one holy, 
spiritual God. They brought with them this won- 
derful conception of the divine Being: ''Who is 
like thee, O Lord, among the gods ? Who is like 
thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing 
wonders?" (Exodus 15: 11.) 

In David's Day. — Through Samuel and David 
revelations were granted which went far to en- 
rich and complete all previous revelation. Thus 
their day may be said to mark a distinct stage in 
progress. 

Samuel developed and illustrated the privilege 
and power of prayer, especially intercessory 
prayer. David developed and illustrated the privi- 
lege and beauty of praise. In the revelations to 



The Restoration. 237 

Abraham and Moses the elements of justice and 
majesty are prominent; in David's day the match- 
less grace and compassion of the divine Being 
came out in fuller distinctness. The stage of 
revelation attained in David's day, while embrac- 
ing all that had gone before, went further and 
rounded out more perfectly the conception of 
God, of his attributes, and of his relations to men. 
Compare the conceptions of God and of his pre- 
eminence in holiness and power and mercy, as 
these are found among the Hebrews and ex- 
pressed in the Scriptures, with the notions which 
prevailed in Egypt and Assyria and the nations 
round about. The Egyptians were worshiping 
bulls and beetles ; the Assyrians were worshiping 
the moon and many other gods; the Canaanites 
were worshiping with unnamable vice certain 
gods which they associated with the sources of 
life. These heathen gods were in frequent quar- 
rels among themselves, being jealous of each 
other and even of men. How, in the midst of 
such sordid idolatry, did the Hebrews get their 
conception of the one, personal, spiritual, holy 
God, who reigns supreme over all men and na- 
tions? The thoughtful student who will take 
pains to compare the exalted conceptions of Je- 
hovah held am^ong these Hebrew people with the 
conceptions entertained by the civilized and cul- 
tured peoples of ancient times must be persuaded 
that the one true God in a special way made reve- 
lation of himself to the children of Jacob. 



238 Old Testament Studies, 

In Isaiah's Day. — Inasmuch as Isaiah was the 
greatest among the prophets, we may think of 
him as representing the era of prophecy at its 
height; and thus we may say that Isaiah's day 
marked a stage in revelation. Isaiah and the 
prophets possessed all that had been before re- 
vealed, but they went further, grasping and re- 
vealing the purpose of God to visit his people as 
Messiah. This purpose had indeed been dimly 
forecast in the earliest Old Testament records, 
and had later come out with increasing clearness, 
but in the days of Isaiah and the prophets who 
followed him the promise of the Messiah was an- 
nounced with emphasis and great clearness. 

Isaiah declares that the Coming One shall be 
born of a virgin, he tells the names by which he 
shall be called, he declares his humiliation and 
his exaltation, and he announces his mission to 
save from sin. His prophetic portrait of the suf- 
fering Messiah has something of the clearness 
of the historic records found in the Gospels. 

In Christ's Day. — Here we have marked ad- 
vance toward the consummation and completion 
of divine revelation. The promise in the garden 
and all the promises of the Old Testament have 
now their fulfillment. In the incarnate Son with 
his divine teachings and his atoning death we 
have a distinct stage in the plan of revelation and 
redemption. "God, who at sundry times and in 
divers manners spake in time past unto the 
fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days 
spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath ap- 



The Restoration. 239 

pointed heir of all things, by whom also he made 
the worlds ; who being the brightness of his glory, 
and the express image of his person, and uphold- 
ing all things by the word of his power, when he 
had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the 
right hand of the Majesty on high; being made 
wSO much better than the angels, as he hath by in- 
heritance obtained a more excellent name than 
they" (Hebrews i : 1-4). 

In PauVs Day, — As the chieftest of the 
apostles, Paul may represent the apostolic age, 
the period in which revelation reached its real 
consummation. After the ascension of our Lord 
and during this apostolic period, the office and 
work of the Holy Spirit, the substitutionary 
atonement as central in the plan of salvation, the 
organization and work of churches, these great 
doctrines were developed for all time. This con- 
stitutes the last crowning stage of divine revela- 
tion. 

We may sum up these seven stages as follows : 

(i) Before Abraham's day, men walked in 
the dim light of natural revelation. 

(2) In Abraham's day, God revealed his name 
and his nature to a man and a family. 

(3) In Moses' day, previous revelations were 
augmented and became the possession of a nation. 

(4) In David's day, all former revelation was 
further increased, the conception of the divine 
character was enlarged, and individual and na- 
tional worship was enriched. 



240 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

(5) In Isaiah's day, a distinct step in advance 
was made in that the nature and mission of the 
Coming Messiah were clearly announced. 

(6) hi Christ's day, the incarnate Son wrought 
the consummation and fulfillment of all that was 
revealed and promised in the Old Testament. 

(7) In Paul's day, there was a final develop- 
ment of the doctrines of grace and a full state- 
ment concerning church organization and life. 

QUESTIONS. 

What is the purpose of the history which we have 
studied? 

Tell of the prophecies of the return of Judah. 
What was the mission of the prophets? 
What decree did Cyrus issue regarding the Jews? 
What is the origin of the phrase, Jews? 
Tell of the return under Zerubbabel. 

What opposition did the Jews encounter while re- 
building the temple and the walls of Jerusalem? 
How may we account for the encouragement given 
by Cyrus to the Jews? 
To what end was the ministry of Haggai and Zecha- 
riah chiefly devoted? 

When did Ezra come to Jerusalem? 

What reforms did he work? 

State what Nehemiah did on each of his visits to 
Jerusalem. 

Tell of Malachi and his message. 

Indicate four steps in the history of the Jews between 
the close of Old Testament history and the 
opening of New Testament history. 

Name the stages in Divine Revelation, indicating the 
nature of each. 



OUTLINES FOR CHAPTER XVI. 



Chart of Old Testament Books. 



Genesis 

Exodus 

Leviticus 

Numbers 

Deuteronomy 

Joshua 

Judges 

Ruth 



1. The World Before Abraham 

(from Creation to 2000 B.C.) 

2. The Days of the Patriarchs 

(500 years) 



3. The Exodus (40 years) 



4. The Conquest (10 years) 
1 5. The Judges (348 years) 



J.VUOU ' 








Job (?) 










Psalms 


I. Samuel 


6. 


The Kingdom (120 years) 


1 


Proverbs 


II. Samuel 








Ecclesiastes 
Song of Solomon 

Isaiah 
Jeremiah 










Lamentations 


I. Kings 








Ezekiel 


II. Kings 








Daniel 
Hosea 




7. 


The Two Kingdoms (259 yrs 


.)| 


Joel 


I. Chronicles 


8. 


Judah Alone (135 years) 


Amos 


II. Chronicles 


9. 


The Captivity (52 years) 


Obadiah 










Jonah 










Micah 










Nahum 










Habakkuk 










Zephaniah 


Ezra 








Haggai 
Zechariah 


Nehemiah 


10. 


The Restoration (135 years) 




Esther 






Malachi 



16 



(241) 



CHAPTER XVI. 



OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY BY BOOKS : 
A REVIEW. 



The Chart given on the preceding page is de- 
signed to set forth the relation of the Old Tes- 
tament books to the ten periods of Old Testa- 
ment history as this history has been developed 
in the preceding chapters. 

In the first column are the seventeen books of 
history. Name them. 

In the second column are the ten periods of 
Old Testament history. Name them, giving 
length of each. 

In the third column are to be found the five 
poetical books, followed by the seventeen prophet- 
ical books produced during the several periods 
indicated. Name these poetical and prophetical 
books. 

The connecting braces indicate the historical 
book or books which record a given period, as 
they also indicate in the case of the poetical and 
prophetical books the period in which the books 
were produced. 

The seventeen historical books, from Genesis 
to Esther, relate Old Testament history from the 
creation to the close of the period covered by the 
(242) 



Old Testament History hy Books. 243 

Old Testament record. The poetical and prophet- 
ical books, from Job to Malachi, were produced 
at various intervals during this time. 

Having studied the general trend of Old Tes- 
tament history it will now be well to study the 
outHnes of the historical books in order to know 
the history by books. 



The Historical Books of the Old Testament. 

Genesis (Fifty chapters). By Moses. 

I. The world before Abraham. Chapters 
i-ii. 
H. The days of the Patriarchs. Chapters 12- 
50. 

Exodus (Forty chapters). By Moses. 

I. Historical — Out of Egypt and before 
Sinai. Chapters 1-18. 
n. Legislative — Regulations for the social, 
moral and religious life of -Israel. 
Chapters 19-40. 

Leviticus (Twenty-seven chapters). By Moses. 

L Laws concerning sacrifices, priests and 
purification. Chapters 1-16. 
n. Laws concerning separation and feasts. 
Chapters 17-27. 



244 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

Numbers (Thirty-six chapters). By Moses. 
I. From Sinai to Kadesh. Chapters 1-12. 
II. The spies sent. Chapters 13, 14. 
III. The thirty-eight years of wandering. 
Chapters 15-36. 

Deuteronomy (Thirty- four chapters). By 
Moses. 
I. Moses first address. History of the forty 
years' journey. Chapters 1-4. 
II. Second address. Exposition and discus- 
sion of various laws. Chapters 5-26. 
III. Third address. Concerning the Ten Com- 
mandments, the blessing and the curs- 
ing. Chapters 27-30. 
IV. Choice of Joshua and death of Moses. 

Chapters 31, 34. 
(For a different outline of Deuteronomy, see page 91.) 

Joshua (Twenty- four chapters). Probably by 
Joshua. 
I. Conquest of Canaan. Chapters 1-12. 
II. Allotment of lands. Chapters 13-22. 
III. Joshua's two farewell addresses. Chap- 
ters 23, 24. 

Judges (Twenty-one chapters). Probably by 
Samuel. 
I. Introductory. Chapters i, 2. 
II. Deliverance through the Judges. Chap- 
ters 3-16. 



Old Testament History hy Books, 245 

III. Migration of the Danites and war against 
Benjamin. Chapters 17-21. 

Ruth (Four chapters). Author unknown. 
I. Ruth in Moab. Chapter i. 
II. Ruth gleaning in Boaz's field. Chapter 2. 
III. Ruth's marriage to Boaz. Chapters 3, 4. 

I AND 2 Samuel (Thirty-one chapters) (Twenty- 
four chapters). Author unknown. 

I. The judgeship of Samuel, i Samuel 1-12. 
II. Saul's reign, i Samuel 13-31. 
III. David's reign. 2 Samuel. 

I AND 2 Kings (Twenty-two chapters) (Twenty- 
five chapters). Author unknown. 

I. Solomon's reign, i Kings i-ii. 
II. The two kingdoms, i Kings 12-22 and 2 
Kings 1-17. 
III. Judah alone. 2 Kings 18-25. 

I and 2 Chronicles (Twenty-nine chapters) 
(Thirty-six chapters). Author un- 
known. 

I. Genealogies, i Chronicles 1-9. 

11. David's reign, i Chronicles 10-29. 

III. Solomon's reign. 2 Chronicles 1-9. 

IV. Judah. 2 Chronicles 10-29. 

V. Judah alone. 2 Chronicles 30-36. 



246 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

Ezra (Ten chapters). By Ezra. 

I. Return and rebuilding of the temple. 
Chapters i-6. 
II. Ezra working reforms. Chapters 7-10. 

Nehemiah (Thirteen chapters). By Nehemiah. 
I. The wall of Jerusalem rebuilt. Chapters 

1-7. 

II. A revival of Scripture study. Chapters 
8-10. 
III. The walls dedicated and reforms 
wrought. Chapters 11-13. 

Esther (Ten chapters). Author unknown. 
I. Esther becomes queen. Chapters i, 2. 
IL Haman plans to destroy the Jews. Chap- 
ter 3. 
III. Esther pleads for her people. Chapters 

4-7. 
IV. The Jews destroy their enemies. Chap- 
ters 8-10. 



QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND EXAMINATION. 



The class teacher will select and submit to the class at 
least sixteen questions from this list. See directions, page 5. 

1. Give the ten periods of Old Testament history. See 

page 241. 

2. What time was covered by each of these periods? 

I. 

3. Name five leading events of "The World before Abra- 

ham." 

4. What is said to be the purpose of Bible history? 

5. What is the especial value of the record of the fall? 

6. Why did Cain murder Abel? 

7. Tell briefly the story of the flood. 

8. Tell of the building of the Tower of Babel. 

II. 

9. Name at least five events in the life of Abraham in the 

order in which they occurred. 

10. What in the case of Isaac and his sons was involved 

in the birthright blessing? 

11. Who sold his birthright? For what? 

12. Relate the story of Isaac blessing Jacob. 

III. 

13. Name some leading incidents in the life of Jacob. 

14. Indicate the outlines of Joseph's career. 

15. Characterize briefly the experiences of Israel in Egypt. 

16. Give some reasons which explain this long period in 

Egypt. 

17. What time separates Abraham and Moses? 

IV. 

18. Tell of the birth of Moses. 

19. Describe the flight of Moses to Arabia and tell of his 

life there. 

20. Moses was called. WTiere? how? to what? 

21. Tell something of the contest with Pharaoh. 

(247) 



248 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

22. What memorial feast was instituted in connection with 

the departure from Egypt? 

23. Indicate some signal miracles wrought during the 

journey from Egypt to Sinai. 

V. 

24. What three incidents of special note occurred before 

Mount Sinai? 

25. Tell something of the tabernacle. 

26. What occurred at Kadesh-barnea? 

27. Relate at least one incident which occurred during the 

Wilderness Wanderings. 

28. Give in outline the life of Moses. 

29. Describe the death and burial of Moses. 

VI. 

30. How was the faith of Israel challenged in the call to 

enter Canaan? 

31. Describe the capture of Jericho. 

32. What led to the defeat before Ai? 

33. Account for the fact that Joseph was buried in Canaan. 

34. Tell of the conquest of Canaan. 

VII. 

35. Describe the time of the Judges. 

36. Name five of the Judges and tell against whom each 

of the five fought. 

37. Give in outline the story of Ruth. 

VIII. 

38. How does Samuel rank among the Judges? 

39. Why did Israel desire a king? 

40. In what two divisions may we consider the life of Saul? 

41. Tell of Saul's last battle. 

42. What in the divine mind was to be the nature of the 

kingdom ? 

IX. 

43. Give in outline the life of David. 

44. Name some events of David's life in Jerusalem. 

45. What relation does David sustain to the Book of Psalms ? 



Review and Examination, 249 

X. 

46. Name some leading events in the life of Solomon. 

47. What three books of Scripture are ascribed to Solomon? 

48. Why was the kingdom divided? 

XI. 

49. Describe the first king of the Northern kingdom. 

50. How long did the Northern kingdom stand? 

51. What event distinguishes the reign of Omri? 

52. What was the character of Ahab? 

53. Name some important events in the life of Elijah. 

54. Name some miracles wrought by Elisha. 

55. What was the character of King Jehu? 

56. Describe the reign of Jeroboam II. 

57. What is the real message of the book of Jonah? 

58. What was the burden of the messages of Hosea and 

Amos? 

59. When was Israel led captive? To what country? 

XII. 

60. Compare the Northern and Southern kingdoms, indicat- 

ing some advantages which each possessed. 

61. Tell of the relations which existed between Israel and 

Judah. 

62. What was the general character of Rehoboam's reign? 

63. What was the character of the reigns of Asa and 

Jehoshaphat? 

64. What special service did Joash render? 

65. How long did Uzziah reign? 

66. Describe the reign of Ahaz. 

67. What was the character of Hezekiah's reign? Name 

some leading events of his reign. 

68. When did Isaiah live? Give the two main divisions in 

the outline of his prophecy. 

XIII. 

69. How long did Judah stand after the fall of Saraaria? 

70. Give some reasons to account for the fact that Judah 

continued after Israel had fallen. 

71. What was the character of Manasseh's reign? 

72. Name some important events of Josiah's reign. 



250 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

73. Tell of the death of Josiah. 

74. Describe Zedekiah's reign and tell how it ended. 

XIV. 

75. What king carried the captives of Judah to Babylon? 

76. Tell of Jeremiah in his relation to Josiah. 

77. Describe the last days of Jeremiah. 

78. What is meant by the Dispersion? 

79. What was the condition of the Jews in captivity? 

80. Concerning Ezekiel, indicate (1) his home, (2) his 

character, (3) his service. 

81. Name some incidents in the career of Daniel. 

82. Tell briefly the story of Esther. 

83. How and when did the synagogue have its rise? 

84. Indicate some benefits of the captivity. 

XV. 

85. What books record the restoration? 

86. What prompted Cyrus to issue the decree permitting 

the return of the Jews to Jerusalem? 

87. Name three leaders of this period. 

88. Who rebuilt the temple? 

89. What special service did Ezra render? 

90. What great work did Nehemiah accomplish? 

91. What was the burden of Malachi's message? 

92. Outline the history of the Jews during "the four hun- 

dred silent years." 

XVI. 

93. Name the ten periods of Old Testament history. 

94. Indicate the length of each of the periods of Old Tes- 

tament history. 

95. Name the book (or books) which records each of the 

periods of Old Testament history. 

96. What poetical books were produced during the period 

which we call "the kingdom?" 

97. What prophetical books were produced during the periods 

"The Two Kingdoms," "Judah Alone," and "The 
Captivity" ? 

98. What books of prophecy were produced during the pe- 

riod which we call "The Restoration"? 



A CHART OF OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 

For Purposes of Drill and Review. 



(Taken substantially from the New Normal Manual.) 

I. The World Before Abraham. 

Genesis 1-11. Creation to 2000 B.C. 

1. Creation. Genesis 1-2. 

2. The Fall. Genesis 3. 

3. Cain and Abel. Genesis 4. 

4. The Flood. Genesis 6-9. 

5. The Confusion of Tongues. Genesis 11. 

II. The Days of the Patriarchs. 

Genesis 12-50. Time, 2000-1500 B.C. 

1. Abraham and His Wanderings. Genesis 12-25. 

2. Isaac, the Son of Promise. Genesis 25, 26. 

3. Jacob and His Twelve Sons. Genesis 27-36. 

4. Joseph, the Deliverer of His People. Genesis 37-50. 

5. Israel in Egypt. Genesis 46-50 ; Exodus 1—2. 

III. The Exodus. 

Exodus, Levitif^us, Numbers, Deuteronomy. 1500-1460 
B.C. 

1. Moses Called. Exodus 1-4. 

2. Out of Egypt. Exodus 5-18. 

3. Before Sinai. Exodus 19-40, and Leviticus. 

4. Wilderness Wanderings. Numbers. 

5. Preparation for Canaan. Deuteronomy. 

IV. The Conquest of Canaan. 

Book of Joshua, 1460-1450 B.C. 

1. Into Canaan. Joshua 1-5. 

2. Jericho is Taken. Joshua 6. 

3. Ai is Captured. Joshua 7, 8. 

4. The Law is Ratified. Joshua 8. 

5. The Conquest and Allotment of the Land. Joshua 9-24. 

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252 ^^^ Testament Studies. 

V. The Judges. 

Judges and Ruth. 1450-1102 B.C. 

1. The Period Characterized. 

2. The Judges. Judges 3-16. 

VI. The Kingdom. 

1 Samuel 8 to 1 Kings 11 ; 1 Chronicles 10 to 2 Chron- 
icles 9. 1102-982 B.C. 

1. The Rise of the Kingdom. 

2. The Reign of Saul. 1 Samuel 13-31. 

3. The Reign of David. 2 Samuel ; 1 Chronicles. 

4. The Reign of Solomon. 1 Kings 1-11 ; 2 Chronicles 1-9. 

VII. The Two Kingdoms. 

1 Kings 12 to 2 Kings 17; 2 Chronicles 10-28. 982- 
722 B.C. 

1. Causes of the Division. 

2. The Kingdoms Compared. 

3. Their Relations to Each Other. 

4. Israel, the Northern Kingdom. 

5. Judah, the Southern Kingdom. 

VIII. Judah Alone. 

2 Chronicles 29-36. 722-587 B.C. 

1. Why Judah Continued. 

2. Eight Kings of Judah. 

3. Four Prophets (Jeremiah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Habak- 

kuk). 

4. Taken Captive to Babylon. 587 B.C. 

IX. The Babylonian Captivity. 

Daniel, Ezekiel. 587 to 538 B.C. 

1. Its Cause (sin and worldly policies). 

2. Its Location (Babylonia). 

3. Its Condition (mild bondage). 

4. Its Prophets (Ezekiel, Daniel). 



Chart of Old Testament History. 253 

5. Its Benefits. 

(1) Monotheism fixed. 

(2) Education developed (the synagogue arose). 

(3) Respect for the Law deepened. 

(4) Expectation of the Messiah quickened. 

X. The Restokation. 

Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther. 538-391 B.C. 

1. The Occasion (Accession of Cyrus). 

2. Under Zerubbabel (Who rebuilds the Temple). 

3. Under Ezra (Who works reforms). 

4. Under Nehemiah (Who rebuilds the walls). 

5. Prophets (Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi). 

Between the Testaments. 

391-5 B.C. 

1. Under Persian Rule to 331 B.C. 

2. Under Greek Kings, 331 to 167 B.C. 

3. Independent (Maccabees), 167 to 63 B.C. 

4. Under Roman Rule, 63 B.C. through New Testament 

Times. 



A DIFFERENT OLD TESTAMENT CHRONOLOGY. 



Old Testament chronology constitutes a difficult and 
uncertain subject. Happily we do not need to know 
the exact dates of the history in order to gain its 
message. We have in these Studies followed Beecher's 
"The Dated Events of the Old Testament." 

Many Old Testament scholars accept, with minor 
variations, the schedule of dates as given below.* 



JUDAH. 

Rehoboam 937. 
Abijam 920-917. 
Asa 917-876. 
Jehoshaphat 876-851. 
Jehoram 851-843. 
Ahaziah 843-842. 
Athaliah 842-836. 
Jehoash 836-796. 
Amaziah 796-782. 
Uzziah 782-735. 
Jotham regent to 735. 
Ahaz 735-715. 



Israel. 
Jeroboam 937-915. 

Nadab 915-913. 
Baasha 913-889. 
Elah 889, Zimri 887. 
Omri 887-875. 

Ahab 875-853. 
Ahaziah 853-852. 
Jehoram 852-842. 

Jehu 842-814. 
Jehoahaz 814-797. 
Jehoash 797-781. 
Jeroboam II 781-740. 
Zechariah, Shallum 
Menahem 738. 
Pekahiah 735. 

Pekah 735-734. 
Hoshea 734-722. 



* From "Classbook of Old Testament History," by 
Dean George Hodges. 



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SOME CHOICE OLD TESTAMENT REFERENCES. 



Genesis 1: 1-5; 6: 5-8; 12: 1-4; 13: 14-17; 22: 
1-3 ; 28 : 10-15 ; 28 : 20-22 ; 32 : 28 ; 35 : 9-13 ; 50 : 24-26. 

Exodus 3: 1-10; 4: 10-12; 12: 11-14; 14: 13-14; 
15: 11-14; 20: 1-17; 32: 30-35; 33: 18-23; 34: 5-8; 
35: 20-21. 

Leviticus 19: 32; 19: 35-37; 27: 30. Numbers 6: 
22-27 ; 10 : 33-36 ; 14 : 6-10 ; 24 : 12, 13. 

Deuteronomy 1: 21; 3: 23-26; 4: 1, 2; 4: 25-40; 
6: 1-13; 7: 6-11; 11: 22-32; 28: 1-68; 29: 29; 30: 
19, 20 ; 32 : 7-14 ; 32 : 29-33. 

Joshua 1 : 1-9 ; 7 : 10-13 ; 23 ; 24. Judges 2 : 6, 7 ; 
6 : 11-16 ; 8 : 22-23. Ruth 1 : 16, 17. 

1 Samuel 2: 1-10; 12: 1-4; 12: 20-25; 15: 22-23. 
2 Samuel 10 : 12 ; 22 : 1-4 ; 23 : 1-5. 1 Kings 2 : 1-3 ; 
8: 12-53; 10: 6-9; 17: 1-7. 2 Kings 5: 10^14. 1 
Chronicles 17 : 16-27 ; 29 : 11-13. 2 Chronicles 1 : 7-12 ; 
14 : 11 ; 31 : 20, 21. 

Ezra 7: 10; 9: 6. Nehemiah 1: 4^6. Esther 4: 
13-17. 

Job 13 : 15. Psalms 1, 23, 24, 67, 96, 121. Proverbs 
1 : 7. Ecclesiastes 12 : 13, 14. Song of Solomon 8 : 7. 

Isaiah 43 : 1, 2 ; 53 : 6. Jeremiah 2 : 13 ; 9 : 1. La- 
mentations 3 : 22, 23. Ezekiel 18 : 23. Daniel 12 : 2, 3. 

Hosea 14 : 1. Joel 2 : 28. Amos 5 : 14. Obadiah 3. 
Jonah 4 : 11. Micah 7 : 8. Nahum 1 : 3. Habakkuk 
2 : 14. Zephaniah 3 : 17. Haggai 2 : 9. Zechariah 
13 : 1. Malachi 4 : 16. 



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